The Last One
by ThatWriterGirlWWE
Summary: Della Stone has finally (& begrudgingly) signed a WWE contract. Her resume was filled with accolades, classic matches & winning every indy's woman's title there was. She had many accomplishments but there was one she wasn't very proud of: having a one night stand with an engaged then, married now Roman. Now apart of the WWE family she has no other choice but to confront her past.
1. Chapter 1

**It's super long. I called myself trying to set the scene and got a little carried away. If you actually make it to the end, the next chapters won't be half of this one.**

* * *

Independent wrestler Della Stone followed her best friend Marina Diaz down a set of wooden steps. She stepped down carefully, fearing the old wood would collapse beneath their feet. The stairs led down into a dingy basement with old WWF PPV posters hung around in frames. On one side of the room there was an beat up sofa with stuffing and springs showing through. On the other there was a coffee table with one leg shorter than the other, a brick propped under it to even things out. Fold out lawn chairs surrounded it. On top of the table was the only thing that appeared to be from this decade, a MacBook. There were also three brassy-looking microphones and three pairs of headphones scattered on the table.

A banner hung from the ceiling, written in sharpie, it read: _Jason in the Basement_.

"Where the hell are we?" Della asked, standing in front of a cloudy full length mirror. It was blurry but she could still make out her soft almond bronzed skin credited to her mixed race, blue cat-like eyes, full lips and long curly hair that she often straightened. Standing at 5'7, her body was the perfect balance of muscular and feminine.

"Jason's basement, duh," Marina muttered sarcastically as she traced a line of dust on a stack of shoot interview DVDs stacked from the floor to her 5'4 height. She was Cuban; her Latin ancestry gave her olive skin, hazel eyes and lustrous dark brown hair.

"I know that much," Della rolled her eyes in annoyance. "How did you find this guy?"

"I didn't find him, he was forced upon me. Do you remember last year when I was booked for the Women's Wrestling Worldwide show against Angelic Cyborg?" Marina asked, hoping to jog Della's memory.

"Yeah and it didn't happen for some reason if I recall correctly though."

"Because Angelic is known to shoot and purposely injure her opponents. She got blacklisted in Japan for ending a legend's career. I begged the booker to get me out of that match and he did...but he said I'd owe him a favor. He finally cashed in that favor when he asked for us to do his lame cousin's podcast so here we are," Marina sat down carefully, gasping when the raggedy chair squeaked beneath her.

Della took off her jacket and spread it over her chair before sitting. "Have you ever heard any of his previous podcasts? Does he have actual guests?"

"I think he's had a few other indy stars before, nobody major though. He's a smark and so are most of his listeners so be prepare yourself for a lot of group think, rants and circlejerks," Marina warned.

Della heard loud footsteps coming down the creaky wooden stairs that led into the basement.

Jason entered. He looked like the textbook definition of a neckbeard with long straggly hair on his head and a full thick beard under his chin wearing a 4XL Bullet Club t-shirt.

Della sighed in exasperation, over this interview before it started.

He was holding a stained glass of water in his hand. He looked down at it before looking at them. "I'm sorry, can I offer you ladies anything to drink."

"No!" "No thank you!" Della and Marina answered together just as quickly as he offered.

Jason sat down and secured his headphones over his ear and the girls did the same. "Do you know how my shows work? It's only an hour. I'll introduce you, then I'll talk about current events in wrestling, then I'll take a few callers and finally, we'll get into the interview."

"Got it," Marina gave him a thumbs up.

"In 5, 4, 3, 2...1," he signaled. "You are listening to Jason in the Basement. I'm your host Jason where I talk all things wrestling with Top 10 lists, reviews of the latest RAW, Smackdown, NXT, ROH, NJPW shows and we let you, the audience sound off. If you don't know who my next guests are you've probably been living under a rock, they've wrestled all over the world, held every indy woman's title there is to hold, they're top 10 right now male or female in the same conversation with Styles, Omega and Okada. I have joining me today the beautiful and exotic duo of Della Stone and Marina Diaz," he ended by playing an applause sound effect.

"What an introduction, I'm happy to be here," Marina spoke into her mic.

"I sure hope you introduce all your male guests as beautiful and exotic, too," Della laughed but was 100% serious. They sat through him reviewing the latest shows before he went on a long winded and whiny, anti-Roman Reigns rant.

"Caller one, you're on with Jason, Della and Marina. What's your name, where are you from and what are you sounding off on today?"

"Hi, Jason. I wanted to Della and Marina to confirm or deny if they were set to be the first female wrestlers added to the Bullet Club but backed out?" the caller asked.

"I wouldn't say we backed out," Marina answered. "The Bullet Club is worldwide at this point. They have representative in New Japan, Ring of Honor, Chikara, CMLL way in Mexico and so many more promotions. They travel a lot doing promo tours and it was just way too much for our schedules, would've been awesome though."

"Let's go to our fifth and last caller. You're on live with Jason, Della and Marina. What's your name, and where are you calling from?" Jason prompted.

"I'm Maxx and I'm calling from New Jersey," he said and his accent proved it. "I just wanted to say excellent opening segment. I'd also like to add, have you noticed how fat and out of shape Roman's gotten? He must be off cycle with the roids. He can't juice with the scandal still in the news."

Jason laughed but Della didn't find it funny especially since Jason was obese and Roman was probably in better shape than Maxx. She chimed in. "That's what you consider fat? Ha. I think that's just how Samoan genes work. His body is no different than the Usos, Roman just has a bigger frame."

Her phone buzzed on the table.

 **Marina: Look at u standing up 4 ur man.**

 **Della: Stop! -_-**

"Nah, it's definitely the roids. Look how much smaller he was compared to his debut with the Shield," Maxx shot back.

"Even then he wasn't ripped, just his arms and shoulders. He was never destined to be slender," Della replied. "He's getting older and the genes are kicking in so if he doesn't keep it in check, that's what happens."

"You sound like a fangirl," Maxx snapped.

"And you sound like a mark," she snapped back. "I bet you were one of the main ones preaching ' _innocent until proven guilty_ ' or ' _we haven't heard all the evidence so stop jumping to conclusions_ ' in regards to the Enzo allegations and Rich Swann situation or think Benoit should go in the Hall of Fame because ' _his crime doesn't take away from his talent'_ but rejoiced when some random guy looking for attention named Reigns in this crap."

Jason cleared his throat. "What makes you think it's so blasphemous? Are you forgetting about his suspension a few years ago?"

"Adderall for energy and focus and roids are two different things," she shrugged. "I'm also guessing Maxx is a NJPW stan. You are aware that they don't test at all in Japan so your favorite wrestler is probably juiced up _and_ coked out like Ric Flair in the 80s while you're worried about Roman's pee."

 **Della: Is it okay if we walk off now?**

 **Marina: No, becuz Jason & his fanboys will make a big deal about it & then the dirtsheets will pick it up "Della Stone walks out of live podcast interview after heated exchange over Roman Reigns" then Roman will likely see it & think "don't I know her...and her beautiful, sexy, gorgeous Latina sidekick?"**

 **Della: Cringe….**

 **Marina: U probably lost 3/4 of ur fanbase with those comments. U know they're all smarks.**

 **Della: They seem to like it when I "tell it like it is" & that's what I did. *shrug***

"And that concludes this segment," Jason said. "Let's jump right into it. Are you two really best friends or is it just an act."

"Act? No, Marina is totally and completely my best. She's almost like a sister at this point, only better because my sister and I hate each other," Della laughed.

"Aww," Marina slid her arm around Della's waist for a side hug. "Up until my first match, I was ribbed and hazed by other girls because they felt I'd have it easier because I was pretty. My first match was booked against Della. She met with me the night before to work on some spots. I was super nervous because she'd been in the business for years and was a top girl but we just clicked. She took me under her wing and never let go."

"What was it about Marina that made you want to mentor her?" Jason asked.

"We spoke each other's language first of all and I'm not talking about her Spanish because I can't speak a lick. I can come across as crass and if you don't know me well enough, feelings will be hurt but she kept up with me. When I talked shit, she talked it right back. Plus even though she was green as baby shit, the potential was there. She could do flashy stuff, flippy shit like a double rotation moonsault and her finisher, the Canadian Destroyer...I'm sorry, _Cuban_ Destroyer as she calls it now but she struggles with basic stuff like selling and could barely lock up. I knew if I helped her with that, we'd have an elite wrestler...and now we do."

"Then we ended up being booked for the same shows, we started traveling together, we moved in with each other and the rest is history," Marina finished.

"Della, you, a wrestler, ended up on last year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. WWE hasn't even been able to pull that off even back in the day when their roster was stacked with nothing but swimsuit models. How did that come about?" Jason asked.

"Long story. A friend of mine started an all women's promotion and I was the face. We did okay in ticket sales and had a decent following but it still wasn't enough to get us out of the small, rundown YMCA building. So I saw an article online that said Sports Illustrated was doing castings for their swimsuit issue. Every year they get a few athletes from different sports to pose. Obviously I'm an athlete so I submit my headshot, bikini shots and highlight reel. I didn't think anything would come of it but if it did, it'd be the perfect opportunity to plug our promotion and bring more eyes and attention to the product. They called and we did a simple shoot in Hawaii. I got along with the photographer and he raved about how well the pictures came out. A week later they called me back to do a second shoot in Madagascar in a body paint bikini which is what ultimately made the cover. They invited me to cover reveal in New York. I almost skipped it because I had a match the next day and I knew I wasn't getting the damn cover anyway so what was the point of traveling way to New York then back to Cali the next day for the match. But I didn't want to look ungrateful for the opportunity so I went. I was legit shocked. Of course the cover girl had to go to different talk shows to promote it and while I was there I made sure to name drop the company. It worked and we made enough money to rent out this nice building and live stream the shows."

"Awesome and you blew up afterwards."

"I wouldn't say blew up…" Della replied.

"Babe, don't be modest," Marina chimed in.

Jason began reading stats from his note card. "You had 500,000 Instagram followers before the cover. Now you have 5 million. You've been on the cover of many other magazines including Vogue Brazil. You're topping all the Hot 100 lists. You're getting endorsement deal after endorsement deal. I think I saw you in a makeup commercial yesterday. You're walking red carpets. You played the main character's girlfriend in a box office hit. You're everywhere. If WWE wants you, they can't throw you the standard NXT pay your way. You're the it girl in and outside of wrestling, they're going to have to pay up."

She brushed it off. Yes, all those things were happening but she didn't get caught up in her newfound celebrity. Her first job and first love was wrestling. "I don't wrestle for the money. What's the old saying? If you love your job you'll never work a day in your life? That's how I feel about wrestling. There've been times where I've gotten jipped by a promoter and I didn't care because I enjoyed the match and crowd so much. This was before the fame so I needed that money."

"Well if you don't do it for the money I'm sure TNA would be happy to oblige," Josh joked.

"Aww, don't kick them while they're down," Marina laughed. "Don't forget, it wasn't that many years ago that the same things you guys are saying about NJPW, how much better it is than WWE and how the guys are more talented, you were saying them about TNA."

"That's riiight," Della agreed.

"You got me," he acknowledged. "Moving on. There've been a lot of high Dave Meltzer rated women's matches these last few years including the Sasha Banks vs Bayley's Takeover match that got a 4.5 and is considered the GOAT WWE's women's match. You both have many matches rated over 4 stars and your last match against each other was rated 4.75 but the last woman's match rated 5 stars was 1995 in Japan...until earlier this year in your match against Monica Dye. What was your reaction?"

"Bucket list complete, now I can retire!" Della laughed. "Just kidding. I don't really get caught up in the star ratings because it's just one man's opinion. I've read other opinions saying the match was overrated just like I've read opinions saying it was the GOAT women's match and top 5 all-time, women or men. Personally, I think every match I've put on against Marina was 5 star worthy and better than the Monica match but that's just me. The hype that the match received did open me up to a wider audience of wrestling fans that thought WWE was the end all, be all of women's wrestling though."

"Speaking of WWE women's wrestling. What do you ladies think of the revolution? You two have been ahead of the game for years doing cage matches, using weapons and doing hardcore matches."

Marina went first. "I love it. It's great to see women legitimized, main eventing and showing the world that anything man can do, we can do better."

"Della?" Jason questioned.

"I'm happy for the women and the opportunities they're getting, it's been a long time coming but to me WWE comes across as self-congratulatory and it's annoying to see the company patting themselves on the back like _hey look at us, shattering glass ceilings...that we built in the first place._ "

"So I guess that's a no to my next question: would you consider going to WWE. It seems like every 6 months there's a report about them being interested in you and I think I read that they wanted you in the Mae Young Classic but you turned it down."

"Yeah, being jobbed out to a 5 foot nothing, 95 pounds soaking wet blonde isn't very appealing," Della snorted. "When I was young, I said my dream was to become a wrestler. I never specifically said I wanted to become a WWE wrestler. To me, it doesn't matter where I wrestle as long as I'm wrestling."

"What about you, Marina? Rumors are floating around as we speak that you have an offer on the table."

"Was the source WWE or myself? If not, it's just rumors like most of the dirtsheet fodder," Marina replied, coyly.

"And that's all the time we have. I'm Josh, signing off from the basement," he said before taking off his headphones. "Thank you, great show."

* * *

Marina seemed to be pouting as they found themselves at a restaurant an hour later. She was visibly fuming behind her hazel eyes.

"What's wrong with you," Della mumbled with a mouth full of salad.

Marina sat back in her chair and expelled a heavy sigh. "Did you really just diss WWE and their champion while I'm in talks with them? They're going to rescind their offer so fast. I know your gimmick inside...and outside of the ring is to tell it like it is but sometimes you need to know when to talk and when to shut up especially when it affects others!"

"How is it affecting you? What I said had nothing to do with you. I'll have to go back and listen but I'm pretty sure you gave politically correct pageant queen answers the whole way through," Della replied.

"But it'll still rub off on me especially since they only offered me a contract to get to you in the first place!"

"You're better than most of their roster, men included so why wouldn't they want you on your own merit?"

"That's true," Marina plastered a cocky smirk across her face. "But the fact still remains that they've been pursuing you heavy especially since your mainstream buzz began last year. It's no secret that we're best friends and tag team partners so if they get me, they probably think you'll follow. Basically I'm a bargaining chip. When they called me in November they asked when my contract with Stardom ended, I told them the beginning of March but my last indy date was tomorrow. They then asked if the same schedule applied to you. They made it clear from the beginning what the agenda was."

"I don't know why they'd have an agenda, I've been turning them down since I was 19," Della said, now 26. "Just go if that's where you want to be."

"If I go, what'll happen to you. You know I'm your only friend, right?" Marina pointed out.

"Are we going to stop being friends just because you signed a contract?" Della raised a perfectly arched brow.

"Of course not but I'm going to have to move to Orlando to train at the Performance Center and of course NXT tapes at Full Sail. Let's not get into how it'll be when I move up to the main roster. I'll never be able to see you," Marina began pouting again.

"We're both iPhone users. That's what FaceTime is for," Della picked the cranberries out of her salad with her fork. The truth was, she'd miss her best friend desperately. She should've been prepared for this since she knew the day would come when WWE offered Marina a contract and she knew Marina would sign but the sad reality was finally setting in. In a way, she'd hope their indy success as well as other big names succeeding on the indy scene would prove that WWE was not the end all, be all of the wrestling world but everyone in this business had a goal and WWE was Marina's.

"Why are you always such a difficult, wannabe hardass? You actually come across as more of a cunt," Marina grumbled, shaking her head. "It's okay to leave Della Stone behind sometimes and just be Delesia. Delesia has friends, Delesia has feelings, Delesia is vulnerable. You just said on the podcast that your dream wasn't to become a WWE wrestler, but mine is. I know I _can_ do this without you but the thing is, I don't _want_ to. You also said you didn't care where you wrestled as long as you were wrestling; last I checked you'd still be wrestling if you went to WWE. You've done everything you needed to do in your independent career. What's left? And you can't use that excuse you used years ago about the division being a joke since Triple H has raided the indies and the Performance Center is super stacked with female talent. If you don't sign this time I'm convinced it's because you got **pumped and dumped.** "

Della's head snapped up, her piercing blue eyes narrowing into slits. She didn't like talking about that night and didn't like remembering it happened either. "In order to be pumped and dumped, one would have to be expecting something out of the encounter - I wasn't. And I don't appreciate you still bringing it up four years later."

"I know those first few years of declines were because of the division sucking but now that it's better, I can't think of any logical explanation besides that night," Marina folded her arms across her chest. "I'm listening if you have one though."

"I won't be able to do my side ventures," Della blurted.

"You hate the glitz and glam of those jobs anyway plus I doubt WWE will care as long as you plug them a few times," Marina replied. "What's next?"

"Too much traveling…"

"We just flew to Japan for a show and then to New York the next day jetlagged as fuck to wrestle at another show, then the day after that you flew to California for an 8 hour long photoshoot and then the day after that we went to that big anniversary show in Mexico. Don't act like you aren't used to the lifestyle already. Next?"

"My cat!"

"Sassy is a teacup Persian that fits in the palm of your hand. As long as you clean up after her and she doesn't get in the way, I see no reason why you can't take her with you when the opportunity presents itself. Next?"

"I'm a pothead…"

"They only fine for weed and you told me that yourself, remember? Next?"

"I'm out of excuses," Della said with a defeated sigh.

A change of mood set in on Marina and she couldn't smother her smile, knowing where the conversation was leading. "Did you book any other show after the one tomorrow?"

"Nope, I had a feeling that you'd sign so I was going to take some time off to help you move and get situated," Della replied.

"Now we can get each other situated," Marina squealed with excitement.

"I guess so," Della nodded, looking at her calendar. There were sixteen days until Wrestlemania which meant quite a few female NXT stars would be moving up to the main roster and a few spots will be opening up on the NXT roster. At this point, Della was considered to be a veteran, having started training at 12 and wrestling her first match at 14 but she knew she'd have to pay her dues in development before she set foot on the main roster like everyone else.

"You're going to love it!"

"Bleugh," Della jokingly stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"I wonder if you're fanboys will turn on you now that you've caved in and gone to _evil_ WWE," Marina laughed.

"If they do I'll just tell them it's your fault," Della giggled, contacting her agent to tell him not to book her anymore dates.

 _ **The Next Night.**_

Word quickly spread around the internet that Della and Marina weren't taking anymore bookings and everyone knew what that meant. They lost their last match and their tag team championships. Their opponents quickly exited the ring to let them have their moment. Marina began crying as they received a standing ovation, bouquets of flowers being thrown in the ring. Della was emotional also, tears stinging her eyes and threatening to fall. For the last 12 years the indies and these fans were her home and it would hurt to let it go. Three asshole fans tried to get a "future ringrat *clap, clap, clap, clap, clap*" chant directed towards Marina and a "you sold out" chant directed towards Della going but they were quickly shut down.

"I hope this is worth it," Della said, picking up the single rose at her feet.

* * *

Della walked into the empty locker room filled with pictures of NXT greats such as Sasha, Bayley, Charlotte, Becky, Asuka and Paige. There was wall to wall wrestling memorabilia and the flat screen televisions on the wall were playing NXT matches.

"What took you so long?" NXT trainer Sara Amato, formerly known as Sara Del Rey whispered as she issued Della and Marina their gray, "Property of the WWE Performance Center" shirts for the new recruit photo-op.

"It's officially real!" Marina squealed as she shrugged on her shirt.

There were five other female recruits:

Cassie was a former WWE developmental girl who was released in 2011 before debuting at the old development territory, FCW. She had no wrestling background and most assumed she'd go back to her old life after the release but she shocked the critics by going to the indies to prove herself, it worked. She had green eyes and sandy brown hair.

Tonya was a ginger fitness model. She had no wrestling background but she definitely looked the part. Her body was toned and rocked hard from head to toe. She had gigantic (and clearly fake) breasts and her ass was so huge that Della and Marina had a heated debate on whether or not it was real.

Sadie was a 5'10 blonde haired, blue eyed former supermodel whose work dried up after becoming a difficult to work with, party girl despite not being established enough to act out. She had zero muscle tone and was still at her model weight. She had no wrestling background or knowledge. The only wrestlers she knew was The Rock for obvious reasons and Nikki Bella due to Dancing with the Stars.

Tierra was a black Olympic track and field silver medalist. Due to her choice of sport, she had huge, muscular thighs that looked like tree trunks and her calves were equally big. Other than that she was young, pretty and had dreads. She never wrestled professionally but she was on her high school's wrestling team so the fundamentals were there.

Finally, there was Monica Dye. Like Della, Monica was considered an indy vet with 15 years under her belt. She was 32 and was always threatened by Della's rise on the indy scene. Even though she was on the other end of that historic 5 star match, she still felt that Della was all hype, overrated and only received praise because of her looks. Monica herself wasn't ugly but she was a plain brunette. The sequel to their 5 star match was horrible and not well reviewed because Monica was more focused on outshining Della than putting on a great match so it was filled with botches, awkwardness and zero chemistry.

They were being held separately from the rest of the developmental girls. After their photo shoot, they were led to the main women's locker room by Sara where the established NXT girls were sitting and talking as they entered the room. The NXT girls all stopped to look at the newbies as they awkwardly entered and were introduced. Della knew a lot of the girls having wrestled them in the indies so their smiles were warm but the rest looked at her like she was there to take their spot. It was no secret that the Performance Center was overcrowded with women who'd never make it to the main roster.

 ** _One week later…_**

Training was boring and uneventful because they were going over basic things like bumping, running the ropes and how to tuck their heads. Della and Marina ended up helping the inexperienced girls after Sara was done with them for the day. Tierra having wrestled in high school caught on well, fitness model Tonya was a natural with the basic stuff at least and Sadie was horrible which was a surprise to no one. They also learned backstage etiquette such as shaking everyone's hand maintaining eye contact while doing so, to never draw too much attention to themselves as newbies, it's a title not a belt, dress business casual on the road, listen to a veteran's advice even when you don't agree.

Today was something to look forward to though, they would receive their gimmicks in a one on one meeting with none other than Triple H and the lead writer for NXT.

Sadie disappeared in the office first and came out after about ten minutes. Confusion was evident on her face as she reapproached the group. "I didn't want to look stupid by asking but who or what is Emmalina? They said they were going to give that gimmick to me using my own name since I'm a real model."

"Look stupid?" Monica scoffed, raising a brow. "I'm pretty sure they knew you weren't some walking, talking wrestling encyclopedia when they hired you. They're the ones who look stupid."

"Rude!" Cassie mumbled.

"Anyway!" Della cleared her throat, frowning over at Monica before turning her attention to the embarrassed Sadie. "Emmalina was this model gimmick given to this now released wrestler, Emma. It was this model persona and throwback to the early 2000s Diva days. They dropped it because they felt she couldn't pull it off but since you _are_ the gimmick, I think you'll kill it but you have to get it together in the ring, babe, or you'll get booed out the building like..."

"Like who?" Marina asked in a secret tone that only Della would recognize.

" _You bitch!"_ was a thought that went unsaid. Della hoped her anger didn't show on her face. "Eva Marie, who else?"

The lead writer reappeared at the door. "Cassie, we're ready."

"Wish me luck, ladies!" she said, scurrying off into the room and the door closed behind her.

Della's phone vibrated in her back pocket.

 **Marina: Monica is such a bitter cunt. Yea Sadie sucks bt she's sweet & lasted longer than I expected her too (I had her quitting Day 1 after the 1st bump) & she seems to be enjoying training & I think she'll enjoy developing her character even more. Yea we're indy girls who scratched and clawed our way to the top & yea girls like her have it easier but wat's the point in being elitist? We're all here together in these gray t-shirts. **

**Della: Agreed. Also, u aren't bitter but that comment u made was very cunt-like.**

 **Maria: No one paid attention to that comment. I actually saved u because u trailed off wen u catch yourself so me stepping in gave u the opportunity to clean it up.**

 **Della: True. You're forgiven...for now.**

By the time they finished a few more text exchanges, Cassie reappeared from the room.

"Soo?" Marina prompted.

"Sooo…" Cassie began, plopping down in her seat. She looked giddy so Della knew this was good news. "They're giving me back my old ring name, Halle and my character will be a disgruntled former wrestler who rags on the NXT girls about how easy they have it now."

"That's actually dope!" Della was shocked. "I assumed they'd give you some lame ' _I'm back. Please give me another chance, okay?'_ storyline."

"Me too! I am so happy, I almost cried right there in front of the same people who let me go," she replied.

The door opened again. "Marina?"

On the independent circuit, Marina was a high flying face with swag and edge so Della wondered how that would translate to NXT. She'd get her answer five minutes later. She didn't look as cheery coming out as she did going in.

She paused her step right in front of the group and a tight smiled formed across her face. She began talking in a broken English accent. "A-llOw meh tew intro-douch myself. Mi name iz Conchita."

"Conchita?" Tierra raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that Spanish slang for-"

"Yep, little cunt," Marina interrupted.

"Are you shitting me?" Della's jaw dropped.

"I shit you not, my friend," Marina shook her head. She was visibly upset. Her hazel brown eyes were blackened with rage.

"Maybe it's just a rib since they've heard you say it so much this week," Cassie shrugged.

"Yeah, with this new women's empowerment narrative they've been pushing I doubt they'll outright call one of their female competitors...that," Della added.

"Maybe it is a rib but even if they change my name again, my gimmick is still bullshit. I'm from Atlanta, Georgia but they want to bill me from Mexico. How the hell do you turn someone of Cuban descent into a Mexican?! I also have to speak with an exaggerated Spanish accent as if you can't go on YouTube and watch one of my old promos or my Instavids to here my barely there accent!" Marina ranted.

"Remember, it was _you_ who wanted to come here," Della snorted. "Stereotyping is nothing new around these parts. Wait until Tierra debuts and the commentators go on and on about how _athletic_ she is like they do all the other black wrestlers."

"You were right," Tierra said ten minutes later when she received her gimmick. She got to keep her name because it's famous but for now, her gimmick is being athletic. "I pitched an idea though. I've never received the gold in the Olympics so I want to be obsessed with chasing the gold aka the championship here. Triple H liked it."

Tonya was now Erin, a powerhouse wrestler and her moveset would consist of power and strong moves.

Monica went in but didn't share the news but she didn't look very excited upon exit.

"Della?"

She took a deep breath when she heard her name and slowly stood.

"I hope you come out better than I did," Marina muttered.

Della was nervous but all the cliche gimmicks were distributed already so whatever they gave her couldn't be any worse than what her counterparts had. She entered the office and there he was, a 14 time champion, Vince's son in law, and the Senior Producer of NXT. She'd read interviews from Bayley and Sasha Banks that have basically described him as a father-like figure but he was still very intimidating.

"Ah, the elusive Della Stone," he stood looking very jacked, likely due to his upcoming Wrestlemania match with Stephanie against Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle. He held eye contact with her as he extended his hand and she shook it firmly.

He gestured to the seat in front of the desk and he took the one behind the desk.

"What do you think so far?" he questioned.

"We haven't done much yet but I like the atmosphere and the people don't seem as cutthroat here as they aren't on the indies," she replied.

"Did you know the match you had against Asuka years ago is the first time we saw her?" The lead writer asked.

"No, wow, I did not," Della's eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah," Triple H nodded to confirm. "Quite a few girls came on our radar via matches against you."

"Well, I can't think of anyone I've ever face that didn't deserve to be here...except one," she said that end part under her breath referring to Monica.

"About your gimmick," he said which caused Della to scoot to the edge of her seat. "Your name is far too big to change at the point and your gimmick can stay as is."

Her gimmick was a cocky shit talker that knew she was the best. She was neither heel nor face, more of a tweener. Her moveset was a blend of high flying, technical and powerhouse moves and none of her matches were repetitive. She took a sigh of relief. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Just keep the ' _shit, fuck, whore, slut and cunt'_ to a minimum...and by minimum I meant erase those words from your vocabulary."

"Done!" Della replied. "Is that it?"

"You're free to go," he said.

"Thank you so much," she said appreciatively.

"You're welcome and tell your friend her ring name is actually Giada," he and the lead writer shared a laugh. "I don't want to hear staff complain about her infatuation with a certain word anymore."

"I'll tell her...but not now," Della snickered. "I want to see her suffer a little."

"Well just get the news to her before she changes her Twitter handle."

"Sure but I don't think she'd be quick to do that."

She closed the door behind her and the girls appeared to be waiting anxiously.

"Who are you?" Cassie asked.

"I'm me; same name, same gimmick," Della responded with a shrug.

"I'm jealous!" Marina pouted.

"Damn, if I'd known posing basically naked on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a body paint was going to grant me creative control over my character, I would have done it too," Monica remarked.

"As if they'd ask you," Marina stuck her tongue down her throat and fake gagged.

"No one's talking to you, _plus one,"_ Monica scolded Marina before turning her attention back to Della. "I bet you won't be here three months before they shoot you to the main roster and Total Divas. I'm surprised you didn't skip NXT all together."

Della knew that plus one comment would hurt her friend so she was quick to step in. "Actually, _you're_ my plus one. For fourteen years you were on the scene and never had buzz, a following or rumors of WWE or even TNA wanting to sign you until _I_ carried you to the match of your career in year fifteen."

"Carried me?!" Monica stood from her seat and took a few threatening steps toward Della. "Bitch, you couldn't even carry my bags!"

"Nope, I agree," Della shook her head. "I couldn't carry your bags because my hands are too busy carrying all my accolades, praise and endorsement money."

Della was trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so she wasn't scared in the slightest. She took up a fighting stance and readied herself but the other girls separated them before any punches were thrown.

"Chill, Triple H is literally behind that door. Do you guys really want him to come out and see his new recruits fighting like we're outside the club?" Tierra reasoned with them.

"Since this naming crap is out of the way, I'm going back to the locker room," Monica stormed off.

"Who pissed in her cheerios?" Sadie asked when Monica was out of earshot.

Cassie shook her head. "I don't know but she needs to check herself before they allow us to move into the main locker room with the other girls. She may have been wrestling fifteen years but she's still week one _here_. Respect for your fellow wrestler is big here and if she pops off like she did with Della or even Sadie in front of others, she'll quickly be kicked out of the locker room for being a... _Conchita._ She needs to be careful because there's nothing about her that'll make her a priority to debut on NXT TV. Not to be ageist but she's 32 and on the clock, with her attitude if she's not released, she'll probably be 35 when she debuts on the main roster. And as for you, Della."

"Me?" Della's head snapped.

"Yes, you. You're an outstanding wrestler. I know that firsthand after our match but that bragging on your money and fame isn't going to set right with some people. Remember Enzo? He bragged about his rapper friends and fame and it got him kicked off the bus and out of the locker room. Don't let that be you," Cassie warned.

Della respected Cassie's wisdom having been here before and knowing the ropes. "You're absolutely right. I'd actually never brag like that but what just went down here was personal."

The door swung open and Triple H stepped out. He appeared to be counting them in his head. "Who am I missing?"

"Monica," they all said in unison.

"Okay, well since she isn't here to hear the announcement, she won't be there to participate," he shrugged. With that their interest peaked. "Wrestlemania is in 5 days down in New Orleans. Every year we have events for developmental talent. You won't be wrestling but I want you ladies to study and embrace your gimmicks because you will be cutting a promo in front of a live audience."

Cheers and screams of excitement filled the room as they bounced up and down.

"What's a promo?" Sadie whispered from behind.

* * *

 _ **2 Days before Wrestlemania.**_

Della watched a match on a screen backstage between Johnny Gargano and his wife, Candice LaRae vs Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega.

"Are you nervous?" Marina asked Sadie.

"Not really," she replied. "Before I was signed, I hosted a few nightclub parties and had to speak before the crowd. So I'm not nervous about saying it but I'm nervous of how it'll be received. My Twitter mentions are flooded with guys telling me how much I'll suck despite them never seeing me do anything at all."

"Yeah, you'll be fine, it sounds like you have something to prove," Della replied. "What about you, Giada?"

"Who?" Marina's brows knitted.

"Triple H changed your name," she grinned.

"When?"

"In the meeting but I kind of forgot," Della really did forget.

"Really?" she sighed. "I've come to embrace Conchita. Now I have to revise my promo, ugh. You suck."

Della glanced over at Monica with her arms folded in the corner, also watching the match. After begging, Triple H allowed her to travel with them to New Orleans but she could not participate. That might've been a good thing because when they went head to head on the mic during their feud, Monica was awful. The match ended and they were rushed to the curtain.

"And now we'll hear from our newest female recruits," the ring announcer spoke into the mic.

There were a lot of wolf-whistles and lewd comments as they walked to the ring with a few scattered "Della" chants. Della and Marina held the ropes open for Sadie to prevent her from embarrassing herself by tripping. Sadie ducked under and entered in her 6 inch heels and Chanel skirt suit looking fresh off the runway.

Backstage they'd already decided that Marina would go first.

Instead of standing in the ring, Marina went to the turnbuckle, climbed on top and began walking the rope like a tightrope walker, drawing sounds of amazement from the crowd. She walked it corner to corner before doing a 630 to pop the crowd, landing on her feet. She didn't even sound out of breath when she put the mic to her lips. "Need I say more? But to drive home the point, I will. I'm Giada and I'm the best high flyer in the business today. I know you see women doing moonsaults, corkscrews and sunset flips but that's not even a fraction of what I can do in this ring. I make the guys on 205 Live look like children playing on their trampolines in the backyard. I'm crisp, I'm clean, I'm smooth, my execution is flawless. If Neville is the man gravity forgot, I'm the woman gravity never knew."

The crowd instantly erupted in thunderous applause when Marina dropped the mic.

Sadie was next and Della held her breath and even cringed when Sadie cleared her throat into the microphone. Before she opened her mouth, the booing began to drown her out. "Booo...booo….booo, how has that been working out for you? Booo...booo...booo...has it ever gotten anyone fired? Booo….booo….booo...has it ever stopped a push? Booo...booo...booo, has it ever produced results? Booo...booo...booo, say it with me but make sure it comes from your gut because the pressure it puts on your stomach will be the most exercise some of you will ever get. I guess your mother gave you money for a ticket to get you out of her basement and away from your desktop computers posting your fantasy bookings on wrestling forums. I doubt any of _you people_ have ever flipped through the pages of Vogue so allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sadie. Let's get one thing straight about the model era that you hated, those girls weren't _real_ models, they were just decent looking girls who posed for pictures. I'm the one who posed for high fashion magazines, I'm the one who walked runways across the world and now I'm the one bringing my strut to WWE to step over your basic favs. I totally get it, you like this new era because the girls are average looking, relatable, attainable, if you tweet them constantly, buy their merch, show them your drawings and tell them in airports how much you love them, _maybe_ they'll take a picture with you and acknowledge your sad existence. You hate women like me because it's just not realistic, not even in your dreams. For the record, when I get my first shirt the male sizes won't go above a large, maybe an extra large for the muscular because I only want attractive men wearing my merch...guess my sales will be low judging by this crowd. The return of the diva starts...now!"

Della had to clap herself for that promo. Sadie garnered some cheers but mostly boos because the shoe fit most of them. Either way, they were impressed.

It was now Cassie's turn. "Before I reintroduce myself, let's take a moment to acknowledge some NXT fan favorites: Sasha Banks, Bayley, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Paige and the rest of them. They're so much better than my previous developmental class, right? So many more opportunities, so many much time in the ring and all because WWE woke up one morning and decided to care about the women. If the women back then had a fancy performance center, competent trainers, more time in the ring, and Triple H coddling us, maybe we would've been better off. All we had was that dusty FCW facility, trainers who didn't give a damn, two minutes in the ring and told to fend for ourselves. Instead of making me better, they fired me but that didn't stop me. Halle is back and if management won't toughen up the new generation of female superstars, I sure will."

Tierra stuttered her way through her promo but her message was on point. Tonya gave up halfway.

It was now Della's turn. She was never afraid of public speaking and felt that she was better at it now that she'd taken acting lessons for her movie role. She didn't prepare anything, wanting the mood to guide her. She saw a few people upfront wearing her t-shirt: the red letter D with black Angel wings on both sides, she saw a few signs with her name, there were feverish "Della" chants starting up and smartphone cameras were trained on her as they waited patiently for her to speak. Just like that, she had a promo. "I guess you're expecting me to break kayfabe, bury the current women's division, go off script, name drop all the other companies I've wrestle for and pandar to smarks, huh? Of course you are but why would I want to be in the favor of fickle fanboys? You're the same ones who'll go home to Reddit and claim me as the GOAT tonight but will turn on me in a month's time when the next big thing comes along. I'm going to keep this short and sweet. I know the following phrase: ' _I'm the best_ ' is used loosely around these parts but when I say it, I mean it, when I step into this ring, I show it. I'm not here to receive contrived try hard chants, I'm not here to be a top merch seller, I'm not here to be the internet wrestling community's favorite. I'm here to do what I've always done and that's wrestle."

Her promo received cheers and some scattered boos from butthurt marks and they headed back to the back.

"Sadie!" Della exclaimed. "What was that? You were awesome!"

"Did you see the crowd when she started going in? They were shook! I was shook! We all were shook!" Marina complemented.

"But can she run the ropes or take a bump without getting a concussion yet?" Monica grumbled.

"Don't worry, Sadie, we'll have them ready to debut you on the main roster in a year. Can't say the same about _some_ people though," Cassie shaded.

Their phones buzzed simultaneously, a group message from Triple H.

 **Triple H: Sorry I couldn't be there but I heard you girls were great. Your job is done so you're free to have fun(but not too much.)**

They went out to a local bar without Monica, got drunk and danced until they could barely stand. A lot of fans from the NXT show were there and they posed for fan pics.

When they walked back into the hotel, Sadie was on Instagram Live professing her love for wrestling in broken slurs. She flexed her barely there muscles. "Do you guys see that shit? I'm motherfreaking ripped. I never want to starve myself, abuse laxatives, water fast or pop pills to stay skinny again. All that posing in workout clothes and posting pictures in the gym was all bullshit to make you think that the modeling industry is interested in healthy living now, spoiler alert: we aren't. Shit, I've said too much, bye!"

"Do you think I'll get fired for that?" She asked. "I know the DailyMail is writing up an article on it as we speak."

"Nah, if anything it reflects positively on WWE for making you want to live healthy," Marina replied.

"Your modeling career is definitely over though," Della chuckled.

"Ah, eff them. I like you girls better anyway," they pulled each other in for a group hug, only separating when the elevator dinged.

The door separated and there he was. 6'3, 265 pounds of Samoan and Italian Roman Reigns flesh appeared. He'd gained weight since their last encounter but it looked adorable on him and there were a few streaks of gray in his goatee. Her eyes snapped to the ring on his left finger that wasn't there last time. She went back to his face, panic filled his brown eyes as his gaze snapped from Della to Marina and back again. His entire body was stiff, motionless as he stood frozen to the spot. He stood there for so long the elevator began closing again which snapped him out of his trance. He stepped off, not saying anything except 'excuse me' as he brushed passed them.

"He's so fine," Tierra sighed when they stepped on and the elevator closed behind them.

"What the hell was that though?" Tonya asked. "He looked scared to get off like we were going to attack him or something. Tell me you guys noticed it."

"No, I was too drunk to notice anything," Marina said but Della knew she was lying. "I didn't even realize it was Roman Reigns until we were on and I saw him walking away."

"What about you?" Tonya asked Della. "I am _not_ crazy!"

"Nah, I didn't really pay attention to him either until we moved to let him pass," Della shrugged.

"I noticed how hot he was but that's about it," Sadie added.

"He was in FCW at the same time as me. Leakee at the time," Cassie informed. "He was always kind of quiet and shy even when every girl down there was throwing the box at him. Maybe he's still like that."

Della thanked God Monica didn't go out with them because she would've definitely noticed. The elevator went up a few more floors and opened on theirs.

"Alright you, guys, tonight was so fun. I am tired!" Tierra said ducking off into her room.

"Goodnight y'all," Tonya said, ducking off into the room behind Tierra.

"Ugh, can I get my shit and come sleep in your room? I don't trust myself to lay down in a room with Monica," Sadie groaned.

"Oh please, her bark is much bigger than her bite," Della laughed as she and Sadie disappeared into their own room with double beds.

Della felt Marina's eyes watching her as she dropped her dress and stepped out of it but she refused to look at her. She got in the shower and noticed that her skin was covered in goosebumps. She tried to block the encounter out of her mind. When she excited the bathroom, Marina was staring at her with a Cheshire Cat grin. Della rolled her eyes before walking over to the light switch. "Don't say a word!"

She could prevent her conscience mind from thinking about it but her unconscious mind brought her back to August 18th, 2014.

* * *

 _ **Monday, August 18th, 2014**_

" _I think that guy just took a picture of us," Marina said as they looked for their front row seats in the rapidly filling arena for RAW._ _It was the show after SummerSlam so people were flocking to see the fallout show._

" _Tomorrow there'll be a dirtsheet article about us signing because we're here. Watch," Della replied and she was correct._

" _Looks like we're in great company," Marina said, sarcastically as they approached their section and saw two slutty dressed chicks directly beside them._

 _One was holding a 'Reign On Me, Roman' sign with a tongue, eggplant and water emoji underneath it. Della rolled her eyes. "But of course."_

" _They may as well give up, I heard he doesn't do rats. They didn't say he doesn't cheat but he definitely doesn't mess with blatant chicks like them," Marina replied._

" _Isn't he like married or seriously dating that woman he brings to the hall of fame every year?" Della asked. "I know he has a daughter from that father's day video."_

" _It's rumored that they're engaged but he's never said anything about it," Marina replied._

" _Oh, cool," Della nodded._

 _The RAW intro appeared across the string signaling the start of the show. Daniel Bryan's theme hit to a big pop but it was Stephanie who walked out doing "yes" chants likely to taunt Brie since they were feuding for whatever reason. Nikki Bella then came out, almost tripping on her way to the ring but recovered nicely. Apparently Nikki was turning on Brie. Brie came out to confront her...and Della tuned out._

 _Natalya vs Diva's Champ Paige was next only to be interrupted by AJ Lee's theme hitting and her skipping around the ring which allowed Natty to pin Paige. AJ just married two months ago so she received CM Punk chants that visibly annoyed her._

" _See, it wasn't that bad," Marina nudged Della._

" _Yeah, the division is getting better but they have a ways to go before I sign my name on the dotted line," she replied._

" _Apparently there are some really good chicks down in NXT at the moment. Now that Johnny Ace is gone they aren't signing as many models as they used to," Marina informed. "This Sasha Banks chick is getting a lot of hype."_

" _Is it 'she's better than the current division' hype or 'she's actually good' hype?"_

" _No, I heard she's legit good."_

 _A few more matches took place and right as they were getting ready to go dark for the commercial, a graphic popped up on the screen. Ryback, Curtis Axel and Randy Orton vs Sheamus, Rob Van Dam and_ _ **Roman Reigns**_ _._

 _Marina was tapped on the shoulder by one of the sign girls. "Hey, can you guys switch seats with us for the next match?"_

" _Why?" Marina asked, raising a brow._

" _We came to see Roman Reigns and he comes down this path to get to the ring. We want to say something to him when he passes," one of the girls answered._

 _Marina scoffed. "No! If you'd given me any other reason I probably would've done it but I can't endorse thirst this strong."_

 _The other five men had already entered the ring, Ryback was from Vegas so he got the biggest pop and then Roman's music hit. His push was just beginning and he hadn't won the 2015 Royal Rumble that smarks felt belonged to Daniel Bryan so he received a decent pop. He walked down through the crowd and stood at the barricade next to Della. His arms were huge and he was possibly the sexiest man she'd ever seen. He turned his head to looked down at her and intense eye contact ensued. His eyes gave nothing away about what he was thinking or maybe she couldn't read them because he was wearing gray contacts. She broke eye contact and turned her head when the rats screamed so loud that it almost burst her eardrums. By the time she turned back to him, he was jumping the barricade._

 _The match started and it seemed as if he glanced over in her direction after every big move he executed. Samoan drop...glance. Clothesline...glance. Dropkick on the apron...glance. Superman punch...glance. Spear...glance._

" _Call me crazy but I think he's checking you out," Marina leaned over and whispered. "This is like his fourth or fifth time looking over here!"_

" _If anything he's checking out the rats beside us," Della glanced down at herself. Her face was beautiful no matter what but she hadn't flat ironed her curls, she wasn't wearing any makeup and her attire consisted of a long sleeved crop top and baggy jogging pants. "Heck, he's probably looking at you to be honest."_

" _Now you know that's not true. He's giving you full on eye contact!"_

" _Maybe his contacts are out of line and he's not looking in this direction at all," Della joked._

" _You bitch!" Marina burst into hysterical laughter._

 _After Reign's spear, Axel tossed him into the ring post. RDV dropped Axel with a kick and then hit a frog splash for the win._

" _The winners of this match, the team of Rob Van Dam, Sheamus and Roman Reigns," is what was announced over the mic._

 _The show was over after Seth Rollins won the main event in a fall's count anywhere match against Dean Ambrose. Della and Marina headed back to the hotel._

" _Do you want to change and head to the bar? My cousin is the bartender so we can drink for free," Della informed._

" _We drink free everywhere we go thanks to desperate men who have no chance but okay," Marina agreed._

 _Della switched into a bustier style dress that made her plump ass look incredible. She flat ironed her hair and they applied makeup to each other...it looked a mess but passable._

 _They went back down to the bar and after a few drinks, she felt a body climb on the stool next to her. She never looked up knowing it was probably one of the old guys who've been ogling her for the last hour. The person never said anything and she eventually forgot their presence. Marina was five drinks in and wasn't paying much attention either._

 _Della turned her glass up but nothing hit her tongue. She knocked on the bar, capturing her cousin's attention on the other end. She held her empty glass up. "Andre?"_

" _Give me a second, babe and I'll be right there," he said before turning his attention back to the patron in front of him._

" _So that's why you've been ignoring me here and at the show earlier. You have a man. I was starting to think I lost my touch," a smooth, deep voice said beside her._

 _Della looked to her right and lost her balance on the stool when she came face to face with Roman Reigns._

 _The shuffling caught Marina's attention. "Oh shit, I told you he was watching you," she attempted to whisper but Della was pretty sure he heard if his smirk was any indication._

" _A-Andre is gay and he's also my cousin so no, that's definitely not my man," Della managed to reply._

" _Oh, you're mixed?" he asked, referring to Andre being black. "That's what I figured at the show."_

" _Yep, black mom, white and Indian father. Also, I wasn't ignoring you. You're kind of hard to ignore," she blurted without thinking then tried to rebound. "Your match tonight was awesome by the way so was your solo match against Orton last night at Summerslam You're doing so well to say you're allegedly green and you move really fast and limber to say you're a large guy."_

" _Thanks, appreciate that," he nodded. "You come to a lot of shows?"_

" _When I'm in the same area, I try. I travel a lot for work though," she replied._

" _Hopefully you're not like me where a plane and a car is more of your home than your actual home," he said, bitterly._

" _Not quite but close."_

" _And for the record, those rats weren't with us!" Marina yelled over Della's shoulder._

" _I already knew you two weren't rats," he said._

" _How?" Della asked._

" _Trust me, if I'd looked in a rat's general direction as many times as I did yours, they'd taken every opportunity to flash me, lick their lips or at least handed their number to the ref after the match to get to me," he shook his head in disdain._

" _Sounds like you get that a lot," Della laughed._

" _Of course he does, look at him," Marina stated._

" _Yeah, I don't pay those girls too much mind because they damn sure wouldn't have wanted me five years and one hundred pounds ago," he said, taking a sip of his drink._

" _I saw your old football pics and you were still cute as a big guy. Not to sound stalkerish or anything because I didn't seek them out, they just happened to be posted on one of the wrestling related Instagram pages I follow," she rambled._

" _Smooooth," Marina snickered in her ear._

 _Della was embarrassed. He knew she wasn't a rat but she felt like she was coming across as an undercover fangirl with stalker tendencies. She decided to excuse herself, looking over at Marina. "Apparently Andre forgot about the drinks."_

" _Of course he did. He has to tend to paying customers that'll actually tip him," Marina laughed._

" _Right! I'm going to go to the little girl's room and then we can leave. Watch my purse," Della slid down from the stool, accidentally rubbing her ass against his thigh as she squeezed by._

 _The bathrooms right around the corner from the bar area were single stalls. Men on the left, the women's restroom on the right. She knocked, making sure no one was in there before entering. She went straight to the mirror. Her makeup was smeared from sweat that she hadn't noticed. She splashed water on her face and scrubbed her face bare with paper towels from the dispenser. Looking deep into her eyes, she scolded herself aloud. "You had the opportunity to talk to him about anything, anything, and what do you do? You reveal that you saw his fat pics! Damn, I should've brought my phone so I could've texted Marina to head upstairs with my purse so I wouldn't have to encounter him again. So stupid!"_

 _Taking a deep breath, she washed her hands. She tossed her hair and turned around in the mirror. Her ass was still great. "Well, at least he'll have something to look at as I walk away."_

 _Opening the door, she exited the bathroom, only to find Roman leaning against the wall. She jumped with a shriek. "W-what are you doing here? Nevermind, stupid question. Of course you're waiting on the bathroom, duh. There's a multiple stall bathroom in the lobby so you don't have to wait."_

" _Nah, I'm actually waiting on you," he said._

" _Me? For what?"_

" _Your cousin was slow with your drink so I wanted you to know that I have drinks...upstairs," he pointedly replied._

" _In your room?" she asked to make sure she wasn't going crazy and he nodded to confirm. "Oh, okay."_

" _You ain't comin," he chuckled to himself._

" _What? I didn't say no," she protested._

" _If you could see your face right now, it's definitely a no, baby girl."_

" _You kinda caught me off guard coming out of the bathroom, Roman. I'm still trying to process the fact that you're standing there, give my brain a chance to catch up to the invitation," she said._

" _When you decide what you want to do I'll be in 409. You don't have to come if you don't really want to. I don't want you to feel pressured into doing anything you don't want to do just because it's me," he said and with that he toward the elevator._

 _Della practically ran back to the bar. She couldn't believe that just happened. In fact, she didn't. She thought it might've been a hallucination from too much alcohol. She fully expected to see Roman still planted on his stool but when she popped around the corner, his spot was abandoned._

 _Marina looked up from her drink that Andre apparently brought after she left. "You just missed Roman. You didn't get a chance to tell him goodnight but at the rate you're going you probably would've fucked that up too," she teased._

" _Actually," she looked around to make sure there weren't any listening ears. "I have the opportunity to say goodnight and so much more to him. He caught me coming out of the bathroom and invited me up to his room. 409."_

" _Biiitch! What did you tell him?!"_

" _I said okay but I don't think I'm going," she shrugged._

" _Why the hell not? You don't turn down sex from the hottest commodity in wrestling today! And have you noticed that big, long and thick tongue he's always sticking out? You're crazy if you pass...unless you're passing to me and I doubt he wants me since we sat here together alone for a good five minutes after you left and he barely said anything."_

" _He's almost married with a kid. I just can't do it," Della shook her head._

" _Everybody knows almost doesn't count. Whatever he has at home is none of your business so you let him worry about that. You've been in this business far too long to act like you don't know how these men get down."_

" _Yeah, I know how they get down but that doesn't mean I have to get down with them!"_

" _You read the wrestling tea blogs just like I do and it's speculated that they're on again, off again all the time so maybe they're off so technically what you're doing won't be wrong," Marina shrugged._

" _You actually believe those pages?" Della snorted. "Nine times out of ten those 'insiders' and 'sources' are just jealous fangirls who can't handle the fact that he's not with them or the woman they think he should be with. Hell, I've seen some lies, fairytales and fanfiction passed off as 'tea' about myself. For all we know he and his fiancé are solid as a rock."_

" _They can't be too solid if he's inviting random girls up to his room," Marina pointed out._

" _Maybe they're in an open relationship," she shrugged._

" _Let's go before you pull anymore excuses out of your ass," Marina pulled her off the stool by the arm, practically dragging Della out of the room. "I'm going to personally escort you to Room 409 and I'm going to stand outside to make sure you don't come out until I hear the first set of moans!"_

 _The elevator door was inches from closing until a hand reached out and caught it, prompting it to open again. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Kayfabe was apparently dead considering they were in the middle of a heated feud and just wrestled each other less than two hours ago. Ambrose seemed drunk and showed himself to the corner while Rollins stared. Della knew them both pre-WWE as Tyler Black and Jon Moxley. Ambrose was loner and kind of a weirdo back then. Rollins was a sleaze with a big ego, she couldn't imagine how inflated it was now that the Shield boys were solo and predicted to be the new faces for years to come._

" _I know you, Della but not you," Rollins said, referring to Marina._

" _My names uh, uhm, uh, Ali," Marina replied._

" _That didn't even sound convincing," Seth snorted. "You two have plans tonight? If not, I'm going up to my room to shower and we can get into something."_

" _She's already booked and I'm not interested so yeah," Marina brushed him off and he looked taken aback._

" _How's Leighla?" Della asked with the intention of being shady. "I haven't seen her since you got signed."_

" _Oh, she's, she's good," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll tell her you asked."_

 _The elevator stopped and opened. Rollins and Ambrose stepped off and Della walked forward before being jerked back. The elevator closed and Marina pushed a button._

" _I think his room was on that floor," Della said._

" _Yeah and so are theirs," Marina replied. "Men gossip just as much, if not more than women. Don't forget we're wrestlers too. If they actually offer me a contract and you actually sign one, you do not want Rollins going around telling people that he saw us knocking on Roman's door. Just like that we'll be labeled ring rats."_

" _He won't be able to say we're ring rats but he'll definitely tell people how mean you were to him back there."_

" _He'll be alright. If anything his pride is hurt. At least Roman is lowkey with his personal life. Seth's Instagram is plastered with pictures of his fiancé and their dogs yet here he is looking for a threesome. Mark my words, all three probably mess around on their girlfriends but his sloppy ass will be the one to get exposed," Marina predicted._

 _They rode the elevator up a few flights and then back down. The hallway was clear._

" _What if they went to his room and when he opens the door, they'll end up seeing me anyway?" Della whispered._

" _Seth is only looking for one thing tonight, easy p, and Roman doesn't have that. 406, 407, 408, and we're here," they paused in front of Room 409._

 _Della put her ear to the door to listen for other voices. It was quiet with faint sounds of a television._

" _How do I look?" Della mouthed._

" _Fine, good, go!" Marina mouthed back._

 _Della smelled her breath. Liquor. Not bad but she dug into her purse and grabbed a mint. "I changed my mind. Let's go."_

" _Bullshit," Marina reached around Della and knocked three times on the door._

 _Della was frozen to the spot as she watched Marina ease out of door view. The sound of bare feet padding across the floor sounded off, then the sound of his body leaning against the door to look through the peephole before it swung open._

 _He looked and smelled fresh out of the shower as he towel dried his long, black hair. There was something different about his face as he stared at her but she couldn't pinpoint what. "I didn't think you'd come."_

" _Welp, here I am," she shifted her weight from leg to leg awkwardly._

 _Apparently he noticed her nervousness. "Don't forget, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do and you can turn around and walk out the second you feel uncomfortable."_

" _I know, and I appreciate you assuring me," she smiled._

 _He stepped aside to allow her to walk in. She glanced around and saw Marina, still out of his view, giving her the thumbs up. His room looked no different than hers upstairs. Same carpet. Same king sized bed that she and Marina shared. Same flat screen television mounted on the wall. Same recliner in the corner. She did notice that his view of the lights from the city through his pulled back curtains was better than hers._

 _Then she noticed the bar with two cups standing out and that's the direction she headed with him right behind her._

 _He grabbed the bottle, pausing before pouring. "Wait, how old are you? What I don't need right now is a charge for providing alcohol to someone under 21. I met you at a bar drinking but that was your cousin who could've given you a pass."_

" _I'm 22. Old enough to drink and much more," she wiggled her brows, playfully._

" _You look a lot younger, well, in the face at least because that body is full grown," he licked his lips. She caught him looking at her sexually for the first time tonight. He lingered on her breast and then up to her lips and back to her eyes. Her entire body felt hot and her fingers trembled, she could feel herself moistening under the stare._

" _Don't let the baby face fool you. I'm hell," she winked, grabbing the glass that he extended to her. Their fingers brushed against each other sending an electric shock through her body. It startled her and she almost dropped her glass. Embarrassed once again, she expected him to laugh at her but he didn't._

 _He filled his and then raised it to meet hers. "Cheers."_

 _They both threw back the strong liquid in less than a second and the awkward silence returned as they stared at each other. The glint in his eyes told her how hungry he was for her but didn't want to make the first move, likely due to her skittish behavior. Della knew she'd have to take charge. She grabbed his large hand (which was surprisingly soft) in hers and led him over the bed to sit. Her feet dangled a few inches off of the floor while his were firmly planted._

" _Soooo…" she said to break the ice._

" _So," his voice was deep with lust as he scooted closer so that his left thigh touched her right._

 _She gasped, finally noticing the difference with his face. "Your eyes!"_

" _Yeah, about that," he smirked. They were brown, the deep color of hazel if you looked closely. His eyes were so deep and captivating and she could feel herself relaxing as she stared into them._

" _You look so cute with your natural eye color. With your contacts you look prettyboy-ish like an Armani Exchange male model but without them you look like a wrestler, so much more menacing and dangerous."_

" _You took that well," he muttered. "I expect some nervous breakdowns to happen the day I ditch them for good. I've already stopped wearing them at house shows."_

" _Oh please," she scoffed. "You're attractive either way so it doesn't matter. Besides, I'm pretty sure most of your fans have come to terms with those being contacts. The dark blues you debuted with were convincing, but then they kept getting lighter and lighter until they turned vampire silver. Why do you wear them?"_

" _I actually have slight vision issues. I've been caught by fans wearing glasses quite a few times. I wore clear contacts down in FCW. Right when they were planning the Shield debut, one of the writers said I had a Jason Momoa vibe going on. Jason has light eyes, therefore I had to have light eyes," he explained._

" _That makes sense, I guess. Good talk," the liquor was hitting and felt a little bold. She kicked off her heels and climbed over into his lap. Roman was already hard which caused her to moan. He leaned in and ran his tongue across her bottom lip, prompting her to open. She tasted him, the liquor they both shared was prominent and she knew she probably tasted the same; it was intoxicating. The power of the kiss was overwhelming, the most sensual kiss she'd ever experienced. His plump lips fit her plump lips like a glove._

 _Roman broke the kiss first, before leaning back in to give her a short series of continuous kisses, the smacking sound echoed around the room. He eased the straps down on her dress. The cold air conditioning in the room made her nipples stand up. Pulling back again, he admired her breast before pushing her hair behind her ears. "You're so beautiful."_

 _Absentmindedly, his large hands stroked her breast, circling the nipple and rolling the tip between his fingers. He leaned down and took one of her nipples into his mouth. She threw her hand back and moaned, encouraging him. His tongue on her nipples sent a direct jolt to her clit and she felt herself getting wet, very quickly. Roman wrapped his arm around her waist, suckling deeper, swirling his tongue around the bud, almost tongue kissing it. He pushed her breast together and ran his tongue from her left nipple, to her right and back again._

 _Suddenly, he flipped, slamming her down on the bed in one quick motion so that he was on top. Della took this opportunity to slid her arms around his neck, keeping him to her. Her tongue went to lick his ear, causing him to groan. She ran her fingers through his sacred hair; it felt silky just like she imagined._

 _She kissed down his neck but when she began sucking it, Roman pulled back with a serious expression on his face. "What?"_

" _I have someone at home so you can't mark me," he replied. "No scratches on my back either."_

" _Sorry," she said, going back to his lips. She felt down his strong back and then moved her hands on his sides to pull his muscle shirt up. He sat up when it got stuck on his wide shoulders to remove it himself. He didn't have a rock hard six pack or anything but his body was lean and was as toned as someone with Samoan genes could be. There was a scar on his side and she remembered him being out for a while with hernia surgery._

 _Roman was still sitting up on his knees when he touched a finger under her dress and pulled her panties to the side to feel her pussy. She was dripping wet and his reaction was priceless. He jerked the dress down from her waist roughly, the force caused her head to be dragged from the comfort of the pillows to the middle of the bed. Next were her panties that he discarded._

 _He used one hand to push her left leg back and used the other to spread open her lips. He flattened his tongue against her. It was so long that it covered the entire length, every bit of her from her hood to her entrance and she cried out. He pointed his tongue to her clit and flicked back and forth making her shake. She pushed herself hard against him as he dutifully lapped at her._ _Then he slid his hands under her, holding her ass firmly as he ate her pussy. He returned to the entrance, collecting the wetness that was leaking out. She squealed when he did it, loving the feeling of his stiff tongue. He slid a finger deep inside of her while attacking her clit in earnest with his tongue. Her body was quivering, her breathing became loud pants. Della's pulsating vagina squeezed his finger tightly as she came with a shudder. Her body slowly calmed but she was still sensitive._ _He kept up his oral assault until Della pushed his head away._

 _Roman pushed his boxers down and his dick sprung out, bouncing slightly with clear precum seeping out. He was a little above average and very thick. It was beautiful with a nice mushroom head and veins. He pulled her forward by the thighs and guided his tip to her entrance. There was a little resistance when he attempted to enter because she was tight as a result of years of celibacy. They moaned simultaneously when she finally enveloped him in her hot, wet tightness._

 _His first few strokes were slow and precise and she squeezed his arms tighter with each. His eyes were closed and mouth was tucked but small groans still escaped. The look of pleasure on his face was something to see and Della couldn't take her eyes off of him. She was startled when his eyes snapped open in panic. "FUCK!"_

" _What's wrong?" she asked when he pulled out of her and slid out of the bed, his dick shining from the juices she covered him with._

 _He didn't say anything as he went into his wallet and grabbed a condom. She hadn't thought twice about it and she was usually careful about that kind of thing. He rolled the rubber onto himself and pulled it down at the base. Finally, he addressed her. "Hate to do it because that's some good pussy you're sitting on but I have to be responsible._

 _When he got back on the bed, he laid flat on his back. Della knew what he wanted so she straddled him and sunk down, inch by inch until he was buried. She rode him gracefully with sensual movements of her hips. Her pussy clenched and unclenched around his cock, milking him. He said she couldn't leave scratches on him but he'd definitely leave some on her with the way his nails dug into her hips as he bounced her up and down in slow, rhythmic movements._

 _Roman's breathing became short and sharp, ragged. "I'm almost there, baby."_

 _That was Della's cue. She ejected him from her body and laughed at the confusion on his face. Sliding down his body, she took him in her mouth and bobbed until she felt his body jerk and salty milk shot down her throat._

" _I needed that," he exhaled sharply, his body covered in a sheen of sweat._

" _Glad I could help," Della stood up from the bed naked looking around for her dress, finding it on top of the bed's headboard. "Do you know which direction you flung my panties?"_

" _You don't have to go," he rolled over to his side, eyes squinting open. "You jumped up like I told you when the condom slides off, your clothes slid back on or something."_

" _I don't have to go...now at this second or I don't have to go...as in stay?" Della paused._

" _You can stay. You're the last one so I want to remember you," he said._

" _The last one, what?" she looked around at him, wanting to know the meaning of this._

" _It's not important," he yawned, patting the spot in front of him on the bed for her to come back to._

" _Wait, don't you have to get up super early tomorrow to catch the next flight or drive to the next town or whatever? If so, I have to go because I don't want to get up early just to go back to my room when I don't have to really wake up until like 10."_

" _You can sleep in until you're ready to leave or checkout time at 11."_

" _K," she slid back in bed with him and he secured his large, tattooed arm around her waist. She began tracing the tribal designs on the inked skin._

" _What's your name?" he asked, moving her hair out of his face._

 _Della rose up in bed like the Undertaker. "Wait, what? I can't believe I just slept with somebody who doesn't know my name. It doesn't even matter that you're Roman Reigns!"_

" _Joe."_

" _What?"_

" _My name is Joe."_

 _Della already knew that but she wasn't expecting him to introduce himself as the real person instead of the character. It made her feel a tad bit better about him not knowing who she was. She sunk back into his embrace. "My name is Delesia."_

" _Nice to meet you, Delesia. Do I need to worry about reading about everything we did and talked about on a blog tomorrow?"_

" _God no," she scoffed. "Matter fact, I was just telling Marina how they're mostly lies, fairytales and fanfiction."_

" _Yeah, they have me fucking the entire women's locker room but I don't shit where I eat," he said. "Too messy plus I bring my lady backstage every now and then and I don't want any of them acting like they have something over her or being fake nice to her."_

 _For the next two hours they talked about everything. His life. His family's legacy. He even mentioned his daughter and his desire for a son. He never really mentioned his fiancé in-depth besides his initial comments and she didn't dare ask. It was also funny hearing him over explain and dumb down wrestling related things not knowing that she too was a wrestler. She had plenty of opportunities to mention it but she refrained._

 _Pretty soon she felt him slipping inside of her from behind in their spooning position. She was still wet from their earlier encounter and pretty soon she was covering him in fresh juices. It turned her on to hear him moaning in her ear. She came from that alone. It was unprotected. Neither of them said anything and he pulled out just in time to splash her outer lips with his seed._

 _At about 5 AM she heard the shower running. He moved around the room as quietly as a 6'3, nearly 300 pound guy could though. Her eyes squinted open slightly to see him kneeling in front of the nightstand beside the bed. He appeared to be writing something on the hotel notepad. He stood, grabbed his bags and then began walking away until his phone rang._

" _Morning. Yeah, I'm up. I'm about to leave the hotel and head to the airport now and then I'll be home. I can't wait either. She's gonna have so much fun on the cruise, I'm glad we decided to go this route. I love you too," Roman said before hanging up and then taking a seat at the foot of the bed. He sat there for a while. Della couldn't see much, not wanting to move her head and alert him that she was awake but from the corner of her eye, she could tell that his head was hanging down. For the first time she felt guilty about what happened last night._

 _Standing, he started his journey back to the door before pausing once again. He came back over the the nightstand, tearing off a piece of the note and ripping it down the middle several times before throwing it in the trash._

 _Della was curious but she fell asleep until a little after 9 when Marina called. "Hello?"_

" _Oh thank God. You didn't come back to the room last night and I heard all the doors slamming early this morning when the wrestlers were leaving so I knew you weren't still with him. I was getting ready to call the police and tell them that you were missing and last seen with Roman Reigns of the WWE," Marina sighed in relief. "So what happened?"_

" _We had that drink he promised, we had awkward small talk and then we did it! He invited me to spend the night then we talked some more, he introduced himself as Joe-"_

" _That's major!" Marina interrupted._

" _I know. We did it again and we went to sleep. He said something about me being 'the last one' and that he wanted to remember me."_

" _What does that even mean?"_

" _I don't know. I asked and he said it wasn't important."_

" _Oh yeah, I almost forgot, he wrote me a note," she said reaching over to the nightstand._

" _Oooh, what does it say? How's his penmanship?"_

" _It's very neat," Della cleared her throat. "It says: Thanks for a wonderful night. I'll never forget it or you. Joe."_

" _Aww," Marina cooed._

" _Apparently he wrote something else but when he got off the phone with his fiancé he came back, tore it up and threw it away."_

" _Go dumpster diving!"_

 _Putting the phone on speaker, Della turned the trash can over. There was a KFC bag, the condom wrapper and the shredded note. She pieced it back together like a puzzle. "Oh, it was just his number."_

" _Keep it. Put it in your phone for safekeeping."_

" _No because if he tore it up it's obviously not meant for me to have. I feel the same way he does. It was a wonderful night and I'll never forget it or him but that's all it was, a night."_

 _ **Friday, August 22, 2014.**_

" _The winners of this match and the new Shimmer tag-team champions, the team of Della Stone and Marina Diaz," was announced to a chorus of boos which was expected since they cheated a fan favorite team to win. They taunted the crowd all the way to the back._

" _I don't care that you're a woman, I'd fight you like a man," one angry man holding a sign supporting their opponents yelled at her._

" _You'd have to jump across the railing in order to do that and if you actually made it across without collapsing or going into cardiac arrest, I'll stand still and allow you to get the first lick, tubby!" Della yelled back and he didn't move. "That's what I thought."_

" _My shoulder," Marina hissed as she rotated it once they made it into the locker room._

" _I got the perfect medicine for it," Della said, pulling a bag marijuana out of her duffel bag._

" _Gasp! I've finally figured out why you keep turning WWE down. You'll have three strikes within your first month."_

" _I heard they only fine for weed. There was this rumor a few years back that Orton is a major weed head and just pays up every time he's caught...which was a lot," Della replied._

" _Maybe that's why he's so slow and monoto- O...M...G!" Marina's jaw dropped as she scrolled around on her phone. "Get on TMZ right now."_

" _Stop being dramatic, what does it say?"_

" _No, this is something you need to see for yourself!"_

" _This better not be some lame random celeb drama," Della pulled out her phone and went to TMZ's website. Her expectations were low but the headline she saw almost caused the phone to drop out of her hand._

 **WWE's Roman Reigns Marries**

 **What's that sound? Wrestling fans crying around the world. Sorry ladies, Roman Reigns is off the market. Roman married college sweetheart, Galina Becker today on a Disney Cruise accompanied by their daughter.**

" _So I think it's safe to assume by 'the last one' he meant the last fling before the ring," Della wasn't upset as she knew he was engaged when she stepped off the elevator onto his floor but it was crazy knowing that he knew he was set to marry in 4 days when he invited her to his room._

" _Yeah, and nine times out of ten he didn't have an official bachelor party so what you guys did was his private party and you played the role of the stripper," Marina added._

" _I like last fling before the ring better."_

* * *

"If they knew they were going to let us attend the Hall of Fame Ceremony they should've told us a week ago when they told us about the promos!" Della ranted that morning in the hotel as they ate breakfast on her balcony.

"Right! What kind of dresses are we going to find the day of? Not to mention it's going to be packed around the city with fans everywhere. It'll take us 2 hours to get to a location through traffic, 2 hours to actually find something we like and then 2 hours to get back to the hotel," Marina sounded exasperated just saying it.

"You didn't even mention hair and makeup in there. That'll be another 2," Cassie added.

"I packed some extra dresses from my runway days if anyone wants one," Sadie offered.

"How did you know we were going?" Tonya questioned.

"I didn't but when you stay ready you don't have to get ready," Sadie shrugged, stuffing three stacked triangle cut pancakes in her mouth. "I pack for any and every occasion that may come up. Always have. It's the traveling model's way of life."

"No offense but I doubt any of us can fit in your size 0 dresses. But thanks though, I'm sure they're beautiful," Tierra replied.

"Do you see this plate or the plate last night or the plate before that? I myself may not be able to fit them," Sadie said. Her phone lit up on the table with a text. She frowned, her chest rose and fell with a sigh. "So apparently Monica got the message about us attending the HOF tonight. She wants to know if we left the hotel yet."

"Tell her we're gone already!" Della snapped.

"We asked you to invite her to breakfast with us and she turned it down so now she wants to tag along with us because she's realized traffic is going to be hell? Screw her," Marina pushed her chair back and stood.

"I agree and I know that we're feuding but as of right now, all we have is each other, all seven of us," Cassie declared.

"Always the sensible one," Della inhaled through her nose. That was going to get old fast. "I guess you can tell her we're still here but if she isn't ready in like five minutes, we're leaving. We don't have any time to waste."

Traffic was hectic as expected. They got stuck in traffic besides some wrestlers from 205 Live. They let down their window and had a bone to pick with Marina about the trampoline comments she made in her promo. It was all in good fun though. After about thirty minutes Sadie googled and found a special occasion dress, shoe and jewelry boutique close to the hotel which meant they didn't have to go across town to the mall.

The boutique was spacious and high end. No shoes were under 200$ and no dress was under 500. Gowns lined the entire left side of the store, all varying in styles and lengths. Della felt them with her fingertips as she walked down the aisles examining each one.

"Too much?" Marina spun around in a black Cinderella style gown.

"Yeah, I think that'd be more appropriate for a ball or gala. Plus you know they're going to put us wayyyy at the back behind the main roster, the families of those being inducted and the main NXT stars so no one's really going to see you anyway," Della stated. "Also we're new, remember we're not supposed to draw too much attention to ourselves."

"You're right. Let me get out of this and pull a simple dress off the rack," she said, disappearing back into the dressing room area.

"Sadie, let me get your opinion on something you're actually qualified for," Monica said, holding up two gowns. "Red or blue?"

"Blue, definitely the blue one. It perfect," Sadie smiled, nodding before texting the group message that didn't include Monica.

 **Sadie: It looks thrifty af.**

 **Della: SHE looks thrifty af in general so it fits.!**

 **Marina: The red one was hideous too.**

 **Tierra: LOL! Y'all crazy!**

 **Cassie: Maybe that's all she can afford for now. Keep in mind we JUST sign contracts.**

 **Della: Sadie, make a new group chat without Cassie this time. This is where we come to be shady in peace. ;-/**

 **Cassie: lmao, IJS. Don't kick me out I promise I'll be good. :-D**

The door opened, causing the bell to ring. Della never looked up. She was too busy checking out a gold mermaid gown. It'd look amazing against her skin tone.

"Can I help you?" Della heard the saleswoman asked the customer.

"Yes, I came all this way with a gown and forgot my shoes," the woman said. Something about the voice compelled Della to look up and her eyes widened at the sight. Galina! Jealous fangirls ragged on her because she was married to Roman but she was actually pretty. She had curly hair, clear light caramel skin, plump lips and freckles. "My dress has a split in it so shoes are important to complete this look."

"Her body looks tight to say she pushed out twins a year or so ago," Marina commented.

"Would you happen to have a picture of the dress?" the sales associate asked.

"I do but I left my phone in the car. My husband stopped in the middle of the street and I jumped out without my purse. He's trying to find a place to park," Galina replied.

"Good luck to him with that. That _WrestleFest_ stuff is going on and the city is packed street to street. I didn't know fake wrestling was still popular enough to put New Orleans in a stand still," the sales associate replied.

"Well that fake wrestling is going to put real money in your pocket today so, yeah," Galina said without raising her voice.

"She gets cool points for standing up for her husband's craft," Cassie whispered.

The bell rung again and this time it was Roman and his daughter who appeared to be around 10. He walked over and handed his wife her purse.

"Daddy, I want to try on some dresses," his daughter said.

"I don't know if they have little girl dresses here, baby," he replied.

"They have little girl shoes," she pointed out.

"You're right. Let's have a look around while your mom is taking care of her shoe business," he turned around to scan the building and his eyes landed right on her. Just like the night before, his body froze in place.

"See, he's doing it again!" Tonya whispered. "Just like last night. You guys have to notice it now."

"What happened last night?" Monica asked.

"He was getting off the elevator while we were trying to get on and the guy looked paralyzed with fear for whatever reason," Tonya explain.

"Hmm, wonder what that's all about," Monica mused.

"It was more than likely because of me," Sadie flipped her long blonde tresses over her shoulders. "I have these effects on men. He probably saw my nude spread in Harper's Bazaar."

"Look at his wife, I'm not even referring to her ethnicity but her body and stuff. I don't think you're his type," Tierra laughed. "A big man like that needs something to grip back there. I think you need a few more months of carbs and barbell squats before you can catch this eye."

"I see them, they're over there, Daddy! Come on," Roman was then dragged away by the arm.

Della's phone buzzed with a private message from Marina.

 **Marina: A nosey neighbor type and a person out to get you is a bad combination of people to have working together to solve a mystery.**

 **Della: Don't I know it.! -_-**

"I was totally sold on the gold gown but this burgundy one has caught my attention too," Della said, trying to change the subject. She actually hated the burgundy dress.

"Try them both on and see which one your ass looks better in," Sadie suggested. "One of my dress options back at the hotel is burgundy so if I decide to wear it we'll be twinning."

"Strike one against burgundy," Della wryly knowing it had no chance in hell anyway.

Della walked to the very back of the store where the dressing room area was located. There were about 12 doors. She went to the last one on the right. Her disdain for the burgundy dress didn't keep her from trying it on. It was actually nice and hugged her curves perfectly but the gold dress still had her heart. She didn't need to try it on to know that it was the perfect fit.

Pretty soon she heard two sets of footsteps entering, coming her way. The doorknob turned but it was locked. She cleared her throat. "Someone's in here."

The footsteps made their way to the other end of the dressing room. A door opened and closed. "I can do it myself!"

"Sorry," Roman laughed. "If you need anything, shout for me."

Della reached behind her to pull down the zipper. It was stuck. She didn't want to jerk it from the awkward angle and risk ripping it. The doorknob twisted again. "Someone's in here."

"Open the goddamn door," Roman's voice said in a low threatening tone that caused her to take a step back. She hesitated for a moment. "I won't ask again."

Taking a deep breath, she turned the lock. His brown eyes burned with fury and his face was red with rage. He was infuriating. His character, even when mad never displayed this kind of anger. He closed the door behind himself carefully, making sure it didn't slam. He looked frightening to Della, especially since he was much bigger physically than he was 4 years ago. He towered over her, boxing her in so much that she felt claustrophobic.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Roman began, his voice a low, angry hiss. "Who waits all these years to come back and destroy someone's life? First, you book the same hotel as WWE and I don't see how a fan pulled that off since I was led to believe WWE booked every room. Now you're here stalking my family? I see that you're picking out a dress so let me guess, you're going to the Hall of Fame, too? What do you want, money? Because this, me and you, isn't happening again. Things have changed. I'm the face of the company now and will be main eventing Wrestlemania for the fourth time tomorrow night, I have two new baby boys to provide for and most importantly, I'm married. I will be damned if I let you and whatever your agenda is jeopardize everything I've worked hard for these last few years!" He pulled out his wallet. "How much to send you back to wherever you came from and far, far away from anything WWE related for the rest of my career?"

"If you showed this much emotion during your promos you'd be doing something. Well done," Della clapped her hands, applauding him. "First of all, I arrived at this store a good thirty minutes before you so stalking your family, how does that work? Oh wait, maybe I snuck into your hotel room, stole the shoes from her bag and then stuck a flyer for this place under her pillow with this exact time listed. Second of all, I'm not booked at your hotel as a fan, I'm booked there as an NXT talent. You want to know how much you need to pay me to disappear? Buy out my contract and I'm gone. Trust me, my contract is a lot different from the average new signee so you can tuck that wallet back into your pants because I doubt you'd be walking around with that much money on you."

Roman let out a scoffing laugh that stopped abruptly when he realized she was serious. "Are you kidding me? NXT talent? Please tell me you're some kind of ring announcer or backstage interviewer because I know you can't be contracted as a wrestler."

"Actually, I am."

"How convenient," he shook his head in disbelief. "Let me guess, you've been training for what, about 4 years? That's a very creative way to get my attention. I've heard of one night stands showing up in the front row or posing with merch on Twitter desperate for a like from the guy but this is taking it to the extreme, baby girl."

"Get over yourself! Your dick was good but not take up wrestling and put my body on the line good. Let me drop some knowledge on you. When you were still playing football at Georgia Tech, I was taking my first bump. While you were _not_ being drafted to the NFL, I was traveling to Japan, Australia, London and back to the States again to perform in sweaty gyms in front of a crowd of about 20 fat guys chanting 'show your tits' even though I was underage and in the ring giving it my all. This company that you're the face of has been after me since I was 19, long before you were even a topic of conversation. Your Shield brothers, I knew them before you. I also have a 5 star match, you don't."

Roman looked speechless and slightly embarrassed. When he did find the words they came out in a softer tone. "You didn't tell me you were a wrestler that night."

"You didn't ask," she shrugged. "And what if I did tell you? You probably would've still freaked out on me the first time we crossed paths again anyway."

"Those girls you're with, are they signed too? I recognize the Latina from that night," he questioned.

"Yes, we all reported to the performance center on the same day."

"Do they know?"

"Of course not! Do you really think I'm going to spill my guts to women I barely know and even when I get to know them better I wouldn't trust them with that kind of secret. The only one who knows is Marina and she isn't going to talk," Della assured him. "The only person who's going to give it away is you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you, especially if you stop and stare like you've seen the ghost of flings past every time you run into me."

"You can't blame me for my reaction last night. All my pre-marriage _situations_ were with old flames from college and other women I trusted. Never had a random until I met you. I was scared for a long time after that. I didn't know what kind of trouble you'd make for me especially when Rollins got caught up a few months later. Not to mention I fucked you raw that second time which is something I _never_ do so I was also worried about you serving me with child support papers. After like two years went by and nothing happened I figured the coast was clear. Now you show up at the hotel I'm staying in? How was I to know you weren't there to 'Me Too' me right before Wrestlemania for 15 minutes of fame even though what we did was completely consensual. Just like that my life, my career and my family would been gone," he looked shaken up just thinking about it. "I have a lot to lose and a lot of people waiting for my downfall. When my career ends, I want to walk away with my head held high knowing I gave it my all and I have nothing left to give. Not walk away with my head hung in shame."

She shook her head. "I'd never hurt you like that."

"I know the girl I met 4 years ago wouldn't hurt me like that but things and people change," he humped his shoulders. "Look how much I've changed."

"I knooooww," she said poking his stomach. "Look at this cute little pudge!"

"That's actually not what I was referring to but yeah, I got a dad bod now," he laughed. "I have to get back on track after Mania."

"Oh, you're hotter than any dad I've ever seen but okay," she giggled. "And while you're standing here, can you make yourself useful and help me unzip this dress. It's stuck."

She turned around and in the mirror she could see his eyes dart straight down to her ass. She saw his tongue peek out before disappearing back into his mouth. He slowly unzipped her but when she grabbed to dress to pull it down he turned around and faced the door. Della thought that was funny especially since he'd already seen it, touched it, tasted it and been inside of it. Kudos to him though for being a good boy now that he was married.

He remained silent until the sound of her zipping up her pants echoed in the tight space. "You decent?"

"As decent as I'll ever be," she replied and he turned back around to face her.

"I guess I'll see you around, _coworker_ ," he extended his hand and she shook it. He was all business. He opened the door and inch to form a small crack. He looked out to make sure the coast was clear. Apparently it was because he slipped out without looking back. His footsteps stopped on the other end of the dressing room where his daughter was located and a knock was heard. "You okay in there?"

Della fixed the burgundy dress back on it's rack and adjusted her shirt in the mirror. The run in that she'd been dreading wasn't that bad once they came to an understanding.

When she stepped out of the dressing room, so did they. ' _Just perfect,_ ' she thought sarcastically. They met in the middle in front of the entrance. The little girl eyed her dresses.

"Excuse me, your dress is pretty. I like the yellow one best," she said.

"Thank you, I like that one best too," Della smiled at her. The poor girl had no idea this woman had the power to destroy her family and her father's livelihood. Roman didn't look particularly happy about the exchange but what was Della to do? Blatantly ignore her which probably would have hurt the girl's feelings.

Della looked up and Monica was standing at the entrance holding her dress and a bulky necklace. Her expression was blame. She probably caught that exchange but to an outsider it was innocent and she and Roman never spoke a word to each other so there was nothing to read into or analyze. Della would make sure she was never caught in his vicinity again though so she wouldn't raise any eyebrows.

When she went back into the store area, Galina was at the counter paying for her shoes. Her group had moved onto shoes and jewelry. She walked up and hugged Marina from behind.

Marina leaned back into her embrace. "What took you so long?"

"It was a long, hard decision but the gold dress it is."

"Did you get that _other_ issue settled?"

"What _other_ issue?"

"Someone else disappeared soon after you did…"

"Let's just say this is going to be an interesting journey," Della replied.

* * *

 **It was** **exhausting** **to finish writing all of this, so I know it's exhausting to finish reading it. If you liked it, let me know. If you thought it sucked, let me know that too.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad everyone is enjoying it so far. I said this chapter wouldn't be as long as the first...I lied. It's the Wrestlemania chapter so why not! Plus Della gets a love interest and we'll get Roman's POV of the events.**

* * *

 _ **WWE Hall of Fame**_

 **Della: This shit is long af!**

 **Marina: IKR! We could've been passed out on Bourbon by now.**

 **Sadie: I'm definitely down for that.**

 **Tierra: Everybody is leaving. Can we go too?**

 **Cassie: No! Definitely not! Notice who's still sitting for the most part, NXT talent. If we leave it'll look disrespectful.**

 **Della: *sigh***

 **Marina: They need to put a time limit on this shit next year. Unless you're the headliner or a big name, your shit shouldn't go over 5-10 minutes. At least get that award show 'wrap it up' music to play them off.**

 **Tonya: & why do they have so many inductees? I know this company has a long history but if they induct 8-10 ppl a year won't they run out of big names after a while? **

**Marina: I just looked down at us. I wonder if Monica knows we have a group chat seeing as we all have our phones up buzzing at the same time while she's just sitting there.**

 **Della: Lol, who cares? She doesn't consider our feelings when she says something out of her way to us.**

 **Marina: True...**

Roman and his wife stayed until after the little boy Jarrius Robertson's speech was over and left. Mark Henry and Goldberg gave their speech to a half empty floor of Superstars.

"Did y'all get the email?" Cassie asked, holding up her phone as they filed into the van outside of the arena.

"No, what does it say?"

"A new Mae Young Classic, coming soon!" Cassie announced.

"Do you think I'll be ready for that?" Sadie asked.

"Uhhh…" Della immediately knew the answer was hell no but still hesitated to reply in order to spare her feelings. "Maybe, who knows."

"Gee, wonder who's going to be the last two standing in the finals...wonder who's going to win," Monica mumbled sarcastically, side eying Della and Marina. "We love a good mystery, don't we."

"You do remember we have a five star match together, right? For all you know it'll be me and you in the finals," Della replied.

"At least you're acknowledging that you'll more than likely be in the finals and will more than likely win. I used to say it was pretty privilege but now it's celebrity privilege I guess," Monica shrugged.

"More like workhorse privilege but if referring to it as that makes you sleep better at night, go ahead," Della rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat so that her back was turned to Monica, ending further discussion.

Marina cleared her throat to interrupt the uncomfortable silence that descended upon the van. "I'm just letting you guys know...I'm going to be dressed naked on Bourbon."

That did the trick and laughter filled the air.

"I won't be naked but I might as well be," Tierra chuckled. "Wait until you see my skirt!"

The bodies wearing wrestling shirts and even lucha masks droned in and out of each other's space as they walked on the circus that was Bourbon Street. They did more eating than drinking the first hour, jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, beignets and café au lait, po'boys. Della wanted crawfish but Marina reminded her that it'd be messy. Then there was the loud music, strippers, beer and hurricane drinks, all of which they consumed with abandon.

Della and Marina clapped when a saxophone player on the street finished before throwing some ones down in his hat. That's when Della noticed they were alone. "Where is everyone?"

"We lost Monica a few blocks ago and I don't think she wants to be found. Cassie and Tonya ducked off in that male strip club we passed and there's Sadie and Tierra over there," Marina pointed. Della looked over to see Tierra and Sadie participating in a zydeco line dance.

"See, that's why I like Sadie. She has nobody's rhythm but she's keeping up with Tierra and the others," Della noted. "She's probably never going to put on a five star match but if she keeps this enthusiasm, she'll be carriable."

"Add in her character and promo work and she may have something," Marina added. "It looks like they're occupied so I guess we can explore a little further."

"This may be the first time we've been alone, just the two of us for the first time since we've been signed," Della reached down to grab Marina's hand but quickly released it. "We look like lesbians."

"Like we give a shit about what people think," Marina reached down and grabbed Della's hand again as they strolled down the streets.

A group of men followed them chanting, "show your tits."

Della turned around and slowly began raising her shirt.

"D!" Marina hissed in fright.

Della stopped when she was right underneath her bra and reached for the zipper on her jeans. She deepened her voice. "Actually, I think my dick is my best feature."

Marina laughed when the men scattered. "I'm surprised they didn't stay. This _is_ Bourbon."

"I wonder if there were wrestling fans in the mix of that. Imagine waking up to ' _Della Stone is transgendered and Marina is her lover_ ," Della snorted.

"That'd be hilarious!"

"You ladies coming in?" the bouncer outside of a bar entrance asked as they walked toward him on the sidewalk.

"No, we were just passing," Della replied, hearing a basic guitar strum coming from inside and a loud crowd cheering like it was the best thing they'd ever heard.

"Who's playing?" Marina asked.

"Some guy named Elias," he shrugged. "I've never heard of him but it's packed."

"Elias? Elias who?" Della raised a brow.

"One of those WW _F_ wrestlers," he answered.

"You want to check it out?" Marina turned to Della.

"We're not doing anything else so I guess," Della replied and they bouncer stepped aside to let them in.

"This guy is really living the gimmick, huh?" Marina said as they entered.

"Well, we complain about kayfabe being dead all the time so..."

"Hello, I am Elias," he said into the mic and the crowd erupted.

"Was this shit announced somewhere because it's smark city in here," Della mumbled.

"Look at his arms," Marina sighed dreamily.

Della watched him. He was wearing a white muscle shirt and scarf. His arms were gigantic, filled with muscles. "He is kind of cute, huh?"

"Cute? Puppies are cute. And his body! Rock solid abs. Roman can't relate," Marina whispered, only to be elbowed in the side by Della. "I think you should go talk to him when his set is over."

"Me?" Della's head turned. "You're the one gushing over him!"

"Nah, I think he's nice looking but he's not really my type," Marina shrugged.

"Bitch, what is your type? During the course of our friendship you've had at least 4 boyfriends and none of them fit the same 'type.' What's the tea, sis?" Della probed. "Also, why do you insist on me being the other woman? Elias was at the Hall of Fame...with a date!"

"Oh, well, nevermind," Marina squeaked.

"I believe I asked you a question," Della pressed.

"Can we take a picture with you two?" a group of fans asked and before they could give a yes or no answer, the men were on either side of them posing as one stood in front and snapped the picture.

Elias' set ended to a standing ovation and he disappeared behind the curtain on stage to an "encore" chant.

Another bouncer appeared in front of them. "Elias would like to see you backstage."

" _Elias would like to see you backstage,"_ Della mocked. "Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Living the gimmick," Marina shrugged. "Do you want to go see what he's talking about?"

"Not really," Della replied sharply, crossing her arms.

"Come on," Marina said, leading Della to the back by the arm.

"You dragging me to meet a wrestler...seems familiar, no?"

There was an open door that they walked into backstage. Elias was seated on a black leather sofa drinking a bottle of water with his guitar sitting next to him. When he caught sight of them he gave them a quick once over.

"I saw you two at the hall of fame. You were sitting back there with NXT so I'm going to assume you're wrestlers?"

"We are," Della confirmed, leaning against the wall.

"Did y'all like my show?"

"I like your dedication to the Elias character if that counts," Della replied.

"She's dedicated to her character, too," Marina spoke up.

"What's her character?" he asked.

"A cunt."

"Is that right?" Elias asked looking at her and raising a brow. "Does she have an attitude? A little mouth on her? I can work with that."

"Did you work on that with your girlfriend, fiance, wife or whoever that chick was you were with at the hall of fame?"

"Excuse me?" Elias looked a little confused. "What chick?"

"Some girl you were with," Della shrugged.

"Just because she was with me doesn't mean she was _with me_ ," he replied.

"So are you single or no?" Marina asked.

"I am," he replied.

"So is Della," she said.

"Della, we have a name," he nodded.

Della gave him a suspicious stare. "I find it hard to believe you're single."

"I know, I look too damn good to be, right?" he said with a cocky smirk spreading across his face.

"Slow your roll. This has nothing to do with your looks. It's your occupation. 99.9% of wrestlers are taken even if they're _single_ ," she explained.

"I guess I'm in the .1% because I walk alone. Really, I am. I'm too young to be tied down right now and my career is just heating up. I'm going to be involved with a major segment at Mania matter fact," he replied.

"Major segment? What is it?" Marina questioned.

"No spoilers, babe, no spoilers," he winked.

"How old are you?" Della asked.

"I'm 30," he answered.

"30 is young to you?" Della snorted. "Of course it's not old but still."

"In regular people years, it's not yung but we're wrestlers. Most male wrestlers don't hit their peak until their 30s," he said.

"That only pertains to a wrestler's career. We're talking about your personal life…" Della responds.

"So you want to know about my personal life, eh?"

 **Sadie: Wya? We looked up & u two were gone?!**

 **Della: Some bar, we're on our way out. Wya? We can meet where we lost each other.**

 **Sadie: Cool. We'll be here.**

 **Della: Have you seen the others?**

 **Sadie: Yeah, Tonya & Cassie are on their way to meet us**

 **Della: Any sign of Monica?**

 **Sadie: Yeah, we ran into her and some indy wrestlers a few minutes ago. She acted like she didn't know us. LOL.**

 **Della: That bitch. -_-**

"So you're just going to text in the middle of our conversation?" he asked.

"Come on, Marina, we have to go like right now," Della said, completely ignoring Elias.

"Where's the fire? What's going on?" Marina asked.

"The others are waiting on us," Della replied.

"Oh, okay," Marina said and they turned to leave.

"Wait, do you um want my number?" Elias asked, hesitantly.

"For what?" Della never stopped walking and didn't look back.

"I can help teach you the ins and outs of this business," he replied.

Della stopped in her tracks and turned her head over her shoulder to look at him. "The only thing you can teach me about this business is how to play a guitar."

"Woah," Elias put both hands up in defense. "Nevermind. If I don't see you Sunday or Monday, I guess I'll see you next Tuesday."

"That was really mean of you," Marina said once they hit the streets again.

"I know you aren't talking, _Ms. I'm Not Interested_ ," Della said, referring to the elevator incident with Rollins. "You were mean to Seth for no reason."

"And what was your reason for being mean to Elias?"

"He offended me! Just because I'm a pretty and shiny new girl, I'm supposed to give him my number so he can show me the ropes or whatever. You already know where he thinks that shit's going to lead to," Della scoffed.

"I don't know, he seems genuinely nice," Marina shrugged. "I didn't get any bad vibes from him."

"Don't let that one conversation fool you," Della rolled her eyes. "I guess he's getting sent to Smackdown."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because he said he'd see me next Tuesday. Why would he see me next Tuesday when he's on RAW?" Della said and Marina burst into laughter. "What?"

"He called you a cunt! **C...U...N** ext... **T** uesday" Marina cackled, almost crying from laughing so hard.

"How _genuinely nice_ of him," Della muttered, sarcastically.

* * *

 **6 Hours until Wrestlemania.**

Della and Sadie were standing in gorilla position. It had monitors everywhere and on the tables were notes and talking points for tonight's show. She stood face to face with _the_ Vince McMahon. Standing in front of him was single handedly the most intimidating moment of her life. All of the women met him but he asked Sadie and Della to stay behind as the others went to explore the stadium.

"You know H has been fighting to get you here for a while now. I've seen you work, Della and you're very talented in _all_ your ventures. I think I speak for him as well when I say we have very high expectations for you and we're going to do everything we can to make sure you reach them. I think you have the potential to be the face of the women's division and a great spokeswoman in the mainstream for the brand behind Ronda of course," he said and Della felt honored to hear it even if he probably just wanted to milk her outside fame in order to promote WWE.

Vince practically fawned over Sadie. The women's revolution seemed to be here to stay but Vince's love for the model types would remain the same. "I saw your promo the other day and I loved it. You are sharp! How old are you?"

"23," Sadie replied.

"Good, you're young. We have plenty of time to train and groom you into a star," he said, enthusiastically before his brows knitted. "What the hell do you mean it won't be ready by showtime?!"

His yell startled them both. Della was confused and Sadie was slightly frightened. "Huh?"

"Headset," he replied, pointing to the ones covering his ears.

"That was crazy," Della said, ducking under the curtain and going out onto the ramp.

"I know," Sadie held her hands in front of her and they were visibly shaking. "It's no secret that I don't know much about this business but Mr. McMahon's aura just screams _boss_."

"Another blonde at the top, yawn," was the first comment Sadie and Della were welcomed back with when they rejoined the group by none other than Monica.

Marina scoffed. "Yeah, damn that blonde Lita, those blonde Bella Twins, blondeJ Lee and _especially_ that blonde ass Naomi! You're looking very blonde, Della."

"I didn't think anyone noticed," Della flipped her dark locks.

"I was platinum blonde with a fresh set of implants my first run and you see where it got me," Cassie added.

"I know you guys are probably used to it by now but holy shit, I've never seen anything like this before. It's very Willy Wonka-esque" Sadie spun around in awe. It was actually a giant Mardi Gras match. "God, I can't wait until I get the opportunity to perform here. I'm going to turn this into a runway with like little photographers on the side taking my picture as I walk."

"I've been in this business for 12 year and I've never seen anything like it, either," Della stated. She'd been to many big indy pay per views but nothing beat the sights and sounds of Wrestlemania. Taking a look around the stadium, she finally saw why they called it the grandest stage of them all.

"And I've attended 3 Mania's but something about being WWE employed makes this one so special," Marina commented. "It's surreal knowing that in a year or two if I'm lucky, I'll be performing here."

From the ramp, they could see that most of the main roster girls and a few NXT faces were in the ring practicing for the Women's Battle Royale.

Roman's theme hit causing Della's head to snap. He came out in sweatpants and a t-shirt to rehearse his entrance.

"The ring is full right now and we don't want to interrupt the ladies but we want you to get down and do your superhero pose so we can test the effects," the stagehand requested of Roman.

"Ok," Roman compiled, cocking his fist before kneeling and slamming his fist into the ramp in his signature pose. The pyro and fireworks going off caused Della to jump. He stood back to his feet. "Nice."

"That was perfect," the stagehand replied.

When he was done, he looked around a spotted them. Della was hoping he didn't act weird this time and he didn't. In fact he walked over. He went down the line as they introduced themselves. He practically had to jerk himself out of Sadie's grip.

He shook Marina's hand. "Marina, you said? Nice to meet you. Welcome to the WWE."

"Thanks," Marina replied, casually.

From the moment Roman released Marina's hands, his eyes met Della's and she held her breath in anticipation. Walking over, they exchanged a secret look. "I'm Della," she said warmly, extending her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, _Della_ ," Roman reached out and clasped his large hand around Della's. When their hands met and their skin touched, a tingle went through her body. She wondered if he felt it too. He gently squeezed her hand before releasing it and moving on to Monica. Della looked down and smiled to herself. _Better. Much better, Joe._

"Hey, I saw you yesterday coming out of the dressing room. I was going to introduce myself then as a new talent but I didn't want to be _intrusive_ while you were with your daughter like _some_ others seemed to be doing," Monica said and Roman looked visibly thrown off.

"Uhm, nice to meet you Monique," he said, quickly letting go of her hand.

"It's Monica," she replied.

"Yeah," he mumbled in response. Then he turned and walked away, saying over his shoulders, "Enjoy your first Mania, ladies."

"We will, Big Daddy!" Sadie yelled after him.

"I know they didn't say this when they were giving us the other backstage etiquette tips but it's frowned upon to openly thirst after a wrestler, especially if he's married," Cassie explained. "You don't want to show rat-ish tendencies. The other girls won't respect you."

" _Come on,_ Cass. Back when she was in NXT Sasha used to openly calling him 'bae' and retweet photoshopped manips of them together and she had a fiance and he was married," Marina argued. "There's an exception to every role and that's _the_ Roman Reigns. I'm pretty sure every girl on this roster has gotten a little giddy over him at some point."

"I'm just glad he isn't acting as weird as he did the last two times we ran into him," Tonya said.

"Anyone else notice how soft his hands were? He has such beautiful skin," Tierra sighed.

Della felt a large arm drape over her shoulder and walk her away from the others. They didn't look alarmed and when she looked up she understood why. Triple H. He gestured to the ring where the women were still working on spots. "A slot just opened up. Of course you won't win but it'll get your face out there."

"I'm grateful for the opportunity but I don't think making my debut at Wrestlemania after being signed for a little over two weeks is going to do me any favors with the audience...or backstage if you know what I mean," Della said. How could she just walk in and take a spot that could've went to one of the more deserving women on the main roster. She was dead set on paying her dues and debuting at the appropriate time.

"I understand," he nodded and becked for the others to join them. "What are you waiting for, go down the ring and get acquainted. It's fine that you're cliqued off and getting along but this group is not going to be together forever. Some of you will eventually go to RAW, some of you Smackdown, some of you will remain down in NXT for a while. What are you going to do when you get dropped in a locker room surrounded by faces you've never spoken with before?"

Alexa rolled her eyes at Della as soon as she came into view.

"I thought she was supposedly nice outside of her character?" Della said privately to Marina.

"I'm sure she is but not to elitist indy wrestlers who refer to her as a ' _5'nothing 95 pounds soaking wet blonde'_ or whatever you said on the podcast," Marina snorted.

"Well, did I lie?"

"Absolutely not but don't forget where we are. This is not the indies where we had actual clout and could talk as much shit about who we wanted whenever we wanted. As far as WWE is concerned, Alexa is at the top of the mountain and we haven't even laced our hiking boots yet," Marina pointed out.

"But we're the cream….," Della prompted.

"...and the cream always rises to the top," Marina finished the Macho Man Randy Savage quote. "Okay, I'm going to go speak to a few of them so I won't look all anti-social."

"I guess I'll _try_ to do the same," Della sighed, finding the first familiar face she saw. Asuka or Kana as Della knew her. "Kana, Konnichiwa(Hello)!"

"Delesia!" Asuka said, which followed by her speaking rapid Japanese that Della understood basically saying that she'd heard about Della signing and couldn't wait to face her again.

"Hai(yes)!" Della replied and followed it by asking Asuka in Japanese if she was excited about her Wrestlemania debut match tonight. Asuka tried to smile but she looked sad which caused Della's heart to drop. "Ganbatte(good luck)."

"Arigato(thanks)!" Asuka replied before rejoining Charlotte in the corner.

"Hey, Supermodel," Sasha said approaching her. Della was confused by the greeting especially because Sasha knew exactly who Della was seeing as she's liked shady tweets about and personally shaded Della on Twitter.

 _ **HeyYo041017: I'd love to see a match between The Boss SashaBanksWWE and The Best DStone92.**_

 _ **SashaBanksWWE: There won't be a "Best vs Boss" because the Boss IS the Best. #IDontKnowHer**_

 _ **DStone92: Sorry HeyYo041017, I don't watch the "others," don't typically pay attention to the "others" and I definitely don't sit on Twitter waiting to like negativity about the "others." The insecure always tell on themselves. #YesYouDo**_

 _Liked by SashaBanksWWE_ _:_

 _ **It's funny how the captain of the "I'm too good for the WWE" squad because of a model era that's dead and gone has a Sports Illustrated cover and is now on the cover of Vogue Brazil. #hypocrite**_

 _ **D. Stone and Marina's friendship is the poor man (I'm sorry, indy man's but what's the difference) Sasha and Bayley.**_

 _ **Are we sure D. Stone isn't dating Meltzer because that alleged 5 star match was no better than SashaBanksWWE vs itsmeBayley's NXT match. That plus him claiming her to be the GOAT female wrestler is suspect af.**_

 _ **Name one thing DStone92 does better than SashaBanksWWE other than pander to smarks. I'll wait.**_

 _ **Remember when D. Stone said it'd be a cold day in hell before she signed a WWE contact? Hope Satan has enough blankets and hot chocolate to go around because that day is upon us.**_

 _ **Guess all the wwe shade was just lowkey envy. Glad she finally came to terms with it and signed...like they all do.**_

"Oh, I guess you're still pretending to not know me. If that's the case, let me help you out. The supermodel is over there," Della pointed to the other side of the ring where Sadie and Mandy appeared to be having an important conversation and possibly exchanging blonde hair maintenance tips seeing as Sadie reached out to touch Mandy's golden locks and then Mandy touched hers in return.

"No, I have the right one. I can't exactly call you a woman's wrestler anymore with all your extracurricular activities," Sasha looked her up and down.

"Girl, bye. Are you serious? You know my 5 star match came _after_ my extracurricular activities, right?"

"Yeah but taking a look at your Instagram, it's about 75% modeling, 25% wrestling so what's your priority?"

"And the truth comes out. I'm glad you're finally admitting to keeping tabs on me," Della said with a triumphant, smug look on her face. "Taking a look at yours, over 50% of yours is makeup and modeling...or did those lingerie and bikini shoots on the beach with Summer Rae fall under the wrestling category?"

"But it's not consuming me and thanks for confirming that you spy on me too," Sasha winked.

"It's not consuming me either. Look at me," Della said, wearing a pair of Jordans, baggy jeans and an oversized Wrestlemania 34 hoodie. "I think this I'm the _real_ woman's wrestler argument would go a lot smoother for you if you didn't come out with pink hair and your face highlighted and contoured to the gawds but okay."

Sasha's brown eyes narrowed. "I like you."

"I like you too, _I guess_ ," Della reached her hand out and they shook.

 **One hour before showtime.**

Backstage was wild and hectic. It was no different from Bourbon...minus the alcohol and strippers of course. Everyone was rushing around, bumping into each other and vigorously busy. Seamstresses, hairstylist and makeup artists were were moving around frantically getting the women and men ready for the show. They found a corner where they could watch the TV screens and see all the backstage action.

Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant trophy and Cedric Alexander won the Cruiserweight Championship. It was now time for the Women's Battle Royale and they clapped and cheered the women as the women lined up in gorilla position.

Becky's theme hit first to lead the charge and all the women filed out until Sasha's theme hit and she went out last.

Two former best friends stood in the middle of the ring and it was Bayley who got the upper hand, throwing Sasha out to a huge pop. "Alright Bayley! She went from that horrible Bliss angle with never being kissed and refusing to use a kendo stick to turning on her best friend!"

"Don't speak too soon, look!" Marina said as the camera panned to Naomi who was the eventual winner.

"Oh, swerve. I love Naomi so no complaints," Della shrugged.

After the show, the women were all hugs and smiles, feeling proud of their performances. The WWE camera crew were taking pictures, videos and getting interviews. Stephanie thanked everybody for doing a great job and reminded them that there will be an after party in the hotel lobby.

Chloe and Halle went out on stage to sing America the Beautiful.

"Here comes creeper smile," Marina nudged Della and she looked up to see Prince Devitt or Finn Balor walking toward gorilla. She was surprised to see that match go on first.

Finn waved to them when he noticed them sitting there. "Long time no see."

Dean Ambrose appeared in street clothes as he was still injured. Rollins in ring gear wasn't too far behind. Dean noticed her and tapped Rollins on the shoulder. He put his hand out. "I want my 20."

Della wondered what the hell that was about.

"I'm not exactly dressed to be carrying a wallet," Rollins replied. He then walked over. "D. Stone, you finally jumped ship."

"Yeah, I guess," she smiled, noticing his contacts. "Nice eyes."

"Just for decoration. They're coming out after the entrance."

"I know I tweeted you after it happened but let me just say, I loved that match. It deserved every star," he said and Della wondered how Monica felt about him not acknowledging her on Twitter or with her standing a few inches away. He turned his attention to Marina. "Ali, is it?"

"Yeah, and I'm still not interested," she mumbled under her breath only for Della to here. Della elbowed her. "It's Marina."

"Was that so hard four years ago?" he snorted.

Miz and the Miztourage passed.

"Video package is almost over, Rollins," Mr. McMahon called for him.

 _Burn it down_!

"Wow!" they exclaimed when the pyro went off. "His entrance is lit...literally."

Della tuned out of the match and began browsing on Twitter. She noticed her fansite owner arguing. Her fans were called Stoners which is what potheads also called themselves. Management hadn't said anything thus far but she knew that name would have to change.

 **DStoneOrg: Bye! Della would never and I don't appreciate you attacking her mentions over some insecure fangirl trying to start trouble**.

Della was curious and decided to inbox her.

 **Della: What's going on?**

 **DStoneOrg: It's nothing, Queen. Enjoy WM, hopefully you'll be on the card next year.**

 **Della: Nah, it's going to bother me all night if I don't know.**

 **DStoneOrg: It's stupid but here *link***

Della clicked the link and it went to some blog and the first post she saw was, "Keep your eyes peeled for a Della and Roman hook up. I think she likes him."

Della's hand shook as she read the works. She knew it'd look suspicious if she didn't reply to her fansite owner.

 **Della: Wtf? Where do they even get this shit from.**

 **DStoneOrg: They pull it from their ass. I told u it was stupid. I know you would never!**

 **Della: Ever!**

Della gasped in air fast and hard, nearly hyperventilating from panic. What did this person know? Her body temperature rose several degrees.

"What's wrong, D?" Tierra looked around which caused the others to look around. The added attention made it worse and she a bead of salty sweat dropped from her hairline and ran directly into her mouth.

Marina stood and pulled Della until they were hiding behind a gold thrown. "What the hell is going on?"

"Look," Della thrusted her phone in Marina's face.

"Oh shit," Marina's eyes widened as she read the words. She grabbed the phone from Della and began clicking around. Her expression relaxed. "Did you read the rest?"

"I didn't need to, that's all I needed to see!"

"Someone asked the poster why she felt that and her reason was because you defended him on Josh's podcast. That's it. You know how wrestling fans are when it comes to a wrestler's personal life. They read into everything. If a male and female wrestler follow each other on Twitter it means they like each other. If they're seen in the same vicinity of each other, not even next to each other, it means they're fucking. Just don't make defending Roman an everyday thing and you'll be safe."

"I guess you're right," Della knew she'd have to move very carefully to not expose herself.

Crew members moved the throne that they stood behind and men dressed in gold wearing trojan heads walked to gorilla.

 _1-2-3! The winner of this match and the new intercontinental champion, Seth Rollins._

"Damn, we missed that whole match," Della shook her head.

"I guess they're getting Charlotte and Asuka out of the way early," Marina said. "Let's go back over because this is not one to miss."

The entrances happened and the match was underway.

"This may be Charlotte's best match," Cassie commented.

"No!" Marina stood to her feet when Charlotte hooked her figure 8. "Asuka's going to reverse it, right? Right?"

"Nope," and as soon as Della said it, Asuka tapped. Even people backstage gasped as Charlotte's music played.

"I can't believe it," Cassie's mouth hung open.

"Me either. I thought for sure we were going to get armbar vs armbar with Asuka vs Ronda," Marina said in shock.

"I'm not surprised. They're setting Charlotte up to be the kayfabe GOAT like her father is on the male side. All those first ever matches, she's won. She's already beat Trish's combined 828 days as champ record and she's going to eventually pass Trish's number of reigns. They've invested so much in her so why the hell not," Della shrugged. "I just hope this doesn't push Asuka to the back burner like it did Sasha when she put Charlotte over."

"So I'm guessing it's going to be Ronda vs. Charlotte next year in the main event of Wrestlemania…" Cassie sighed. "It's already booked.

"Keep it!" Marina laughed. "The first women to main even should've been me vs D."

"Eh, there's first and then there's _best_ so I'm not shook," Della replied.

"Uh, Marina, I think Orton is trying to get your attention," Tierra said. Della also noticed that he'd been walking back in forth in front of them warming up for his match next while occasionally glancing at Marina.

Marina scoffed and turned the back of her head to him. "His wife is crazy and his washed up ass isn't even worth the headache. No thanks."

The match came and went. Della didn't really pay attention. She was completely zoned out until the loud sound of bikes caught her attention for Triple H and Stephanie's entrance.

"Really badass," Tonya commented.

"Do you guys think she'll be any good?" Sadie whispered as Ronda walked by.

"Well, she's been an athlete for 20 years, is an Olympian and Judo is pretty much grappling. She probably won't be a technical wizard but she'll be okay to say she just started training," Della replied and she was right.

The USO tag match was next and they kept glancing at her and talking amongst themselves. She guessed Roman told them his secret. The Bludgeon Brothers won.

"Bludgeon Brothers, really? Who asked for this?" Marina shook her head.

"They could've taken 5 minutes off of that mixed match and gave it to them," Della replied. "This shit couldn't have been anymore than 5 minutes."

"Look," Marina hissed in Della's ear.

Della looked over to see Elias standing in the corner tuning his guitar. He caught her gaze and sent her a courteous nod that she immediately returned. "I wonder what he's doing that's so major?"John's theme played and it immediately hit her. "Don't the lights go off when Elias enters to sing?"

Marina gasped. "They sure do."

John beat Elias and exited the ring.

"Is he coming?" Tonya asked.

"I think so," Cassie said and the others followed her gaze until they found the Undertaker walking down the hallway.

"OMG!" Della whispered. There were few people who were capable of making Della mark out and The Undertaker was one of them. "I'm dead. Text my mom right now and tell her I've been found dead!"

"If anyone needs a bathroom break or food run, I suggest you take it now while Taker is making his entrance," Marina joked.

"I have to go check on my makeup," Sadie announced, standing to her feet. "I just tried to take a selfie and my nose was oily."

Daniel Bryan's return match ended and Nia was crowned the new champ. They were halfway through AJ vs Shinsuke.

"Okay, this match is good but it's not living up to the 'dream match' hype," Cassie stated.

"Yeah, Shinsuke isn't doing half the strikes he did in New Japan and when he does strike it's not with the same intensity. I don't know if it's a personal choice or if management told him to tone it down or what," Della added. "He's not working strong style at all."

"I can see him toning it down for safe style Miz or brittle bones Orton but that's AJ Styles out there at WrestleFreakinMania. Go big or go home," Marina said.

"Hello, business just picked up," Della said when Shinsuke turned heel. "And that knee to the face looked mighty stiff."

"Damn, I forgot all about the RAW tag match," Tierra yawned. "This shit is long!"

"No ones even paying attention to us so can we dip and hit Bourbon again?" Sadie looked bored and Tonya looked restless as well. "I already saw some of the main roster women rolling suitcases out of here."

"But the main event…" Della tried to reason with them.

"WWE gave us the network free as long as we're employed. We can watch it on the car ride back to the hotel," Cassie said.

Della squeezed Marina's thigh for backup.

"No you, _Ms. As a Newbie, we should do everything by the book_ , trying to bail on the main event," Marina scolded. "You know it's customary, especially as a newbie, to stay and watch as many matches as they can."

"You're right," Cassie nodded, backing down.

"But the traffic," Sadie groaned, sinking down in her chair.

The RAW tag was over and Braun and a little boy won in one of the most wtf moments in recent WWE history.

Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar came into view. Brock was huge and looked downright scary. Who'd even want to fake fight a guy who looked like that. He stopped and stared at Sadie with a blank expression before disappearing into gorilla.

"Oooh Sadie, did he just check you out?" Tierra grinned.

"I hope not!" Sadie sounded terrified.

"Makes sense. His wife Sable, tall, hot blonde. Sadie, tall, hot blonde. The man clearly has a type," Cassie chuckled.

"You better get that. If he actually stays after this match, he'll have plenty of pull so she'll have a streak longer than Asuka's," Marina laughed.

"RAW, Smackdown and NXT Women's Champ at the same damn time!" Della said, amused. "They'll probably make Char vs Ron in the main event of Mania next year a triple threat and add you."

"Just when I decide I like you bitches!" Sadie rolled her eyes, fighting to keep the smile off of her face.

The video package for the match started and Roman appeared with his hair still in a bun. He pulled it loose and bent his head down to wet it with a water bottle and drank the remainder when he was done. He didn't look nervous but he also didn't look confident, his expression was hard to read. He was staring off blankly until their eyes met. She let a small smile say good luck since she couldn't. There may have been a twitch at the corner of his lip, a glimmer of a smile threatening to break through...but it didn't and he headed to gorilla as well.

His music hit to boos and his pyro effect was timed perfectly. Lesnar's music hit and he was cheered. The crowd seemed burned out and she didn't blame them after seven hours.

"Seriously? Yeah, let's boo the guy because of his booking and he's allegedly undeserving but let's cheer the part timer holding the title hostage and just getting a paycheck. Smark logic," Della rolled her eyes.

 **Marina: You're doing it again…**

"I read on the dirtsheets that he's leaving anyway. Dana White said Brock was returning and he sure is in the audience. Probably came to see Ronda but still," Cassie said.

"Is he okay?" Sadie sat up as Brock suplexed Roman around outside of the ring hard.

"This crowd sucks," Marina shook her head as a 'this is awful' chant broke out. From the very bell to start the match, the majority of the audience was verbally shitting on the match, hardly paying attention, and playing with beach balls. "I mean what the fuck? If you don't like Roman, that's fine because he's not a favorite of mine either but you pay hundreds upon thousands of hard earned cash to travel to New Orleans and attend the show of shows to troll?"

"I figured they'd be too tired to act up but I see I was wrong," Della said, shaking her head.

They all gasped in horror when Roman sat up and blood gushed from his forehead. Della's jaw dropped. "Holy shit."

"I haven't seen a crimson mask that bad since that time Eddie G bladed too deep and hit a vessel," Marina commented.

"Did Roman blade?" Tierra asked.

"Who needs a blade when you have Lesnar's fist? He was legit going in on those punches. The last one was loud," Cassie answered. "Happened in the vs Orton match, too."

"Alright, he's gotten beat up, he's bleeding, let's get his triumphant comeback sequence out of the way so we can go back to the hotel," Marina sighed.

 _F5 attempt. Spear. Another spear. F5. 1-2-3._

"What?" Della jerked forward in her chair.

"That's it?" Marina was equally shocked. "Was this shit called due to the bleeding or what because that can't be what they sat down and planned. If so, they set out to make it suck."

"Welp, people complain about WWE being predictable and I didn't predict any of this shit happening," Monica spoke for the first time tonight. "Asuka tapping, Jinder winning, Ronda being decent, Luke Harper and the other one winning the tags, Cena getting squashed in 2 minutes, Shinsuke turning and finally, Roman losing!"

"Brock is never fucking leaving, is he?" Della said.

"More reason for Sadie to hop on him and get that push," Tonya laughed.

"Not with those teeth," Sadie gagged.

"He's held it a year so he'll need it a hundred more to erase CM Punk's record. They already erased AJ from the books by having Nikki break her streak. You know how petty WWE can be," Cassie said.

When the replays were done they showed Roman limping over to his family. His daughter's head was down on the barricade and she looked sad. His wife reached out her hand and when he grabbed it he couldn't even look at her. His father and the rest of his family were quiet and looked sad as well.

"Poor guy. Imagine having your family front row to witness you literally giving your blood, sweat and tears only for the crowd to shit on you," Marina commented.

"Awww, Big Daddy, he looks so sad walking away," Sadie observed. "I hope his wife gives him some sympathy sex tonight."

"Look at him, the only thing he's going to want tonight is a hot bath, not a shower, a bath to soak himself and then a soft bed," Tierra said.

He looked dejected, sad and slightly dazed as he looked around the arena.

"Either Roman's been taking acting classes or he's legit upset," Della siad. "I think we should go. I don't think he'd want another audience staring at him when he gets back here."

 **Marina: Shit that was rough. The match was horrible too.**

 **Della: Yea but my impression is the fault lies with Brock. He doesn't seem to care at all at this point. It's embarrassing to have a champ with no pride when he's main eventing WM.**

 **Marina: I still can't believe Roman lost. This shit was supposed to be gift wrapped to him.**

 **Della: I know & did u see his face...I was so sad for him. **

**Marina: Of course you were, lol. U are over him, rite? We seem to be liked backstage so far by the higher ups and ppl who matter. Don't want anything jeopardizing that.**

 **Della: Duh, I've had 4 years to get over it.**

 **Marina: Cool. Just checking.**

That was the thing. Della thought she was over it but now she realized that she was just blocking it out. She definitely didn't fall in love with him in one night but she couldn't pretend like being around him wouldn't be hard. She was happy that after RAW, she'd be going back to NXT far away from him.

* * *

 **RAW.**

 **(Roman's POV)**

"Are those new girls who've been stalking Triple H debuting tonight or something?" R. Truth asked as they watched a group of women following Triple H. Everywhere he went they were a few steps behind.

Among them was Delesia and her friend. He was impressed with how she seamlessly transitioned from tomboy in baggy jeans last night to the standard of feminine beauty in her dress and heels tonight. When it was time to come up, she was going to be a lamb in the wolves den. It was going to every man's mission to be the first, _well second_ , but first to be able to _say_ they hit that.

"No, they aren't," Cesaro answered. He was dating Sara Amato, the NXT trainer so he was in the know more than Roman would be about the going ons down in NXT.

Every now and then they'd make eye contact. She'd never look for very long and never when she thought she was being observed. As far as he could tell, they weren't doing anything to warrant any attention. Her blue eyes held concern and he understood why. The match last night left him deformed with a mean knot and dent on his forehead. 12 sutures and 10 staples. He knew going into the match that it was going to be another level of physicality. Their last Wrestlemania match he'd gotten a few ribs cracked. He was ready for anything except his head being opened in front of his wife and especially his ten year old daughter. He'd always assured her that daddy wasn't really being hurt but he couldn't even pretend in that case. That was one of the things (among others) that upset him the most about the match. But he was never one to bitch or cry so he took his beating like a man.

Delesia looked around again to make sure no one paying attention and mouthed, 'are you okay?' and he nodded in return. Then the other one, Marina looked at him and narrowed her hazel eyes, scolding him silently.

"And they definitely aren't debuting tonight seeing as only one of them is main roster ready and that's D. Stone. Maybe the blonde in a none wrestling role," Cesaro continued. "The red head has no experience and neither does the dreadhead. Goes without saying the blonde is awful in the ring but apparently she has the look, charisma and can cut a promo which is why she could work as a manager. Cassie went to the indies and came back okay but her storyline is going to keep her down in NXT for a while. Monica is awesome but she can't really carry anyone because she's used to working with people just as good or better. If Della is 1A, Marina is 1B but they're going to make her tone down her style. Imagine her attempting some flippy shit to the outside of the ring with Alexa waiting to catch her. Plus she has no in-ring psychology. You can work her leg the entire match and stab her in it and she'll still go to the top rope and hit a corkscrew shooting star press like it's nothing. She's basically Will Ospreay with tits."

"Is something up between Monica and that Delesia chick?" Roman asked since Cesaro was in a sharing mood. "I sensed some heat when I shook hands with them yesterday."

"Delesia?" Finn's brows knitted. "I haven't heard anyone call her by her real name, ever."

"That's how she introduced herself to me," Roman shrugged, playing it cool. He reminded himself that he slept with _Delesia_ ; _Della_ is his coworker. Della, it made sense seeing as it was easier to chant than Delesia. It also made sense why he couldn't find her under Delesia on social media after the fact. He just assumed she'd given him a fake name.

Cesaro answered. "It's the age old story about the older, more experienced wrestler feeling intimidated by the younger, better looking wrestler's success. Same script, different cast."

"You know this girl?" Elias stepped up and asked. This past weekend made a year since his debut on the main roster. He seemed like a good guy. He hasn't had any heat with anyone backstage and as far as his character, Roman could tell he was going to be a star unless booking fucked him over in the future.

"No, not personally," Cesaro shook his head. "Most of this information is from Sara."

"I do," Finn said, smirking and Roman braced himself for what he'd hear. He'd be crushed if Finn said she was a bitch and a pass around.

"So what's up with her?" Elias inquired and Roman had a feeling this questioning came from more than a place of general curiosity.

"She's legit, that's the first thing you need to know. She loves this business," Finn said. "I know her from Japan."

"And…?" Elias pressed which confirmed Roman's suspicions.

"Oh," Finn chuckled when he realized what details Elias _really_ wanted. "I'm guessing she's single. She doesn't really fuck around and if she does, it must be outside of the business. Matter fact, we all assumed she was a virgin until we had a party and played "never have I ever: sex edition" and she took a few shots."

Roman couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face. She was tight but she definitely wasn't a virgin the way she sucked and rode him that night.

* * *

 _ **That night...4 years ago.**_

 _Roman was in his zone as he made his way through the crowd fresh off of his Summerslam win against Orton. He took the last two steps off the bleachers and then he was making his way through the floor as fans patted his back and filmed him with their phones._

 _He always paused and looked around when he got to the barricade before jumping. When he looked to his right, he couldn't help but notice the girl standing next to him. She was stunning with the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. They were very distinctive almond shaped blue in color, maybe blue-gray and very expressive._

 _She probably didn't know a thing about wrestling. He knew there were pretty wrestling fans as he ran into them everyday and at his signings but this girl was on another level. He assumed she was dragged here by her boyfriend until he looked behind her and saw an almost equally beautiful latina standing behind her._

 _Screams caught his attention and he took his eyes away from the girl and saw two half naked women holding up a sexually charged sign. Rats. The latina looked back and rolled her eyes at them and he knew right then that they weren't together. He was aware that he was a good looking guy and knew that there were fans who were attracted to him but he tried to ignore the rat population. The attention he was now receiving came out of nowhere. He was always handsome growing up and in high school was voted most attractive but in college he gained a lot of weight to play defensive tackle and considered himself a ham._

 _He jumped over the barricade, entered the ring and before he knew it the match was underway. Maybe she was familiar with wrestling afterall. She seemed to be paying attention to the action instead of her head down on the phone like the rats were doing. She even did the RVD gesture when Rob did it. Everytime they caught eyes, she didn't react. In fact she looked away a few times and pretended she wasn't interested._

 _The match was over and he headed to the back to the locker room. He sat and watched a match between his cousins, the tag team champs, Jey and Jimmy (or Josh and Jon as he knew them) against Gold and Stardust._

 _Then it was time for his Shield brothers to go at it. Personally, he thought it was a little too early to split them and he thought they needed a longer face run. He also hoped they could change their characters up a bit but the way they broke up and how early it was, they weren't able to do that. But it was what it was and now it was his time to sink or swim alone._

 _Ambrose and Rollins fought over the barricade into the crowd and the camera panned to the girl and her friend's reaction._

" _I swear those two have gotten more camera time tonight than some of us all year," Josh said._

" _Can you blame production? They're bad as hell," Jon replied. "The one on the right has that sexy latina shit going on. The one on the left is wifey material."_

" _That's Blue," Roman found himself saying aloud._

" _Who?" they asked simultaneously like the twins they were._

" _You know her?" Josh asked._

" _Nah, never seen her a day in my life," Roman replied._

" _Where did you get that 'Blue' shit from then?"_

 _Roman sighed, thinking back to their brief encounter. "If you saw that chick's eyes up close. I can't even describe it. It was wild."_

" _I know goddamn well," Jon started. "How do you wait until you halfway down the altar to want to dip your toes in the rat pool."_

" _I ain't say nothing about dipping toes or anything else in anything. Besides, those aren't rats," Roman said, and his cousins laughed._

" _Shiiid, if thinking you're precious Blue isn't a rat makes you feel better, go right ahead."_

" _I'm serious," Roman looked at the screen to find Rollins and Ambrose fighting their way back towards the ring through the crowd which would grant Blue more camera soon. Pretty soon, she came back into view. "Look at the girls beside them," when the camera panned over, those seats were empty. "Nevermind, they're gone but that just proved my point. The actual rats left when they didn't hit their target, me. Those two are still here seemingly enjoying the show."_

" _Why would they leave early when they're trying to catch someone after the show?" Josh antagonized._

 _Roman ignored the comment and turned his attention back to the screen._

" _What's up with the bachelor party, Big Dog?" Rollins asked as they pulled out of KFC and headed to their hotel._

" _Ain't gonna be none of that," Roman chuckled in the backseat. It just hit him...on Friday he'd be a married man. He was marrying the love of his life. They were both college athletes. He'd watch her in practice from across the way for months before getting the nerve to approach her. They had their first date on Valentine's Day and never looked back._

" _There's a strip club not too far away from the hotel. We can get you a few lap dances and call it a night," Ambrose suggested._

" _I'm good," Roman declined._

" _Lame," Rollins shook his head as he swerved through traffic._

 _Roman was considered the chaperone of the group. Maybe he would've been wilder in the pre-social media era but there were too many blogs and smartphones snapping pictures nowadays. Rollins should know that as many times as he'd been caught in bar pictures in close proximity of women who weren't his fiancé. After Roman went undrafted he struggled, there were times when he didn't know how he'd pay his rent for the month and was living off food stamps with Galina and a newborn baby. Now that he was on the come up he wasn't going to piss it away with reckless behavior._

" _So you're seriously not going to do anything? Nothing?" Rollins asked._

" _I may have a drink at the hotel bar but that's it for me," Roman answered._

" _The least you can do is come out to a bar with us," Ambrose said._

" _Told you I'm good," Roman said as they pulled up to the hotel._

" _Well I guess we can let you out now, then," Rollins said, shifting into park and the doors unlocked._

 _Roman looked around before opening the door and getting out. Kayfabe wise they were broken up so he didn't want to risk fans getting pictures of the three of them together._

" _Rome!" Rollins called when Roman collected his bags from the trunk._

" _Yeah," Roman walked up to the window._

 _Rollins reached into his wallet and jokingly handed Roman a condom. "Just in case."_

" _Oh please," Ambrose snorted before they sped off._

 _Roman went upstairs, ate and changed his clothes before heading downstairs to the bar. It was filled with nothing but older guys sitting in the booths and a few hipster looking kids at tables who looked far too young to be in here. There were also two women sitting at the bar on stools. It wasn't until he walked a little closer that he recognized them from the show. The Latina looked pretty much the same but 'Blue' traded her baggy clothes for a dress, her hair was straightened and she wore makeup. He planted himself on the stool next to her. Neither of them looked up._

 _He raised a brow in astonishment when he heard them dissecting the show. Guess they were fans after all. Blue didn't seem too fond of the Diva's division from what he could tell and she came down hard on their in-ring skills. That got an eye roll out of him. It was easy for fans who've never taken a single bump to shit on performers from the outside looking in. They didn't know the hardship of training, what they put their bodies through and the blood, sweat and tears they put into their craft._

 _Roman was on his second drink by the time she noticed him beside her. Looking at her, you wouldn't think she was as shy as she appeared to be during their exchange. She excused herself and went to the bathroom._

 _The Latina leaned over the empty seat. "Excuse my friend. She's an awkward mess out of character."_

 _Out of character? He wondered what that meant but didn't dwell."So you girls are legit wrestling fans huh?"_

" _Yep. Wrestling is basically our life," she winked. "My friend eats, sleeps and breathes it. It took her a minute to get sold on you, though."_

" _Oh really?" he asked, amused._

" _Yeah because you're so pretty and you have 'the look' so she thought you were going to be just hype but you eventually won her over," she replied._

" _Glad to know," he snorted._

" _Yep, she's a hard critic. She doesn't really have to go to the bathroom. I think she just wanted to escape you. In her mind she probably thinks you're making fun of her or something," the Latina revealed._

 _Actually, Roman thought it was cute. It was a welcome change from women trying too hard to be sexy and seductive in his presence. He finished his drink and slammed the glass down on the bar. He looked back over at the Latina. The bartender, Blue's cousin was finally serving them again. "Hey, I'm about to head upstairs and lay it down. It was nice meeting you…?"_

" _Marina," she smiled. She was crazy gorgeous as well._

 _Roman pulled out his wallet to tip the bartender when he noticed the condom from Rollins. It was as if it burned his fingers when he touched it. They've been a couple of times when he was unfaithful in his relationship, mostly when he and G were having growing pains in their relationship and had unofficial breaks but he didn't actively set out to cheat. Those few occasions happened when he ran into old flames he'd had in college or a few girls he'd known forever from his hometown of Pensacola. There wasn't any feelings there, they knew what it was and so did he. But he hadn't cheated since he'd gotten down on one knee and had no plans to do so when he said I do. But for some strange reason he found himself staring off into the direction of the bar bathroom._

 _Many men found themselves evaluating their lives before the vows and Roman was no different. He knew he loved Galina with all of his heart and never wanted to be without her but sometimes he wondered if he missed out on anything by settling down so early. They were just two college kids having fun with no one to worry about but themselves. He was only 21 when he found out that she was pregnant and at 22 he held his daughter for the first time and became a father. His future was pretty much written from that point on. He'd start his NFL career, marry her and provide a wonderful life for her and their daughter. When he went undrafted, his new plan was to play football in the Canadian league, marry her and provide a wonderful life for her and their daughter. When that didn't work out, his new plan was to get any job, marry her and provide a wonderful life for her and their daughter. When that didn't work out, his new plan was to follow in his father and the rest of his bloodline's footsteps and wrestle, marry her and provide a wonderful life for her and their daughter. The plans may have changed but the goal remained the same and here he was four days away from reaching it with a condom in his hand and blue eyes on his brain. The devil on his shoulder whispered: 'What would one last hurrah hurt if you plan on staying faithful for their rest of your life? Get it out of your system and start fresh Friday.'_

 _Roman had no control of his body as he slid off the stool. His brain was directing him to the elevator but his legs stopped him in front of the women's bathroom. Now it was the angel's turn to reason with him: 'It's not too late, Joe. G will never know but you will. In twenty years do you want to look back on your wedding day knowing a hookup happened days before? Turn around before Blue walks out of the door.'_

 _Too late. He hasn't had the opportunity to think about what his conscience told him before the door opened and Blue stepped out. She looked startled when she caught sight of him. There was no way this girl would sleep with him and maybe that's why he was standing here. Just to know he made an attempt which would satisfy his devil without actually cheating and satisfying his angel._

 _He was settled upstairs, had talked to G, said goodnight to Joelle and was towel drying his hair when he heard a knock on his door. He knew it wasn't Blue. He also hoped it wasn't Rollins and Ambrose with a stripper because it sounded like a woman's voice whispering as he approached. Leaning against the door, he was shocked to see Blue standing there. She kept looking back arguing with a shadow, Marina he assumed._

 _She was here, now what? Was he really going to go through with this. He looked down at her cleavage: yes. The question now was, was she really going to go through with this. He'd have to make her as comfortable as possible if this was going to happen._

 _The sex was amazing. Being inside of her just felt right, so right that he accidentally forgot to wear a condom upon entering. He could tell she was a freak and he wasn't surprised because they always say the quiet and shy ones are the biggest. He started thinking about more stuff they could do and try...until he remembered he was an almost married man. Tonight was going to be it for him and she was **the last one**_.

 _She was very easy to talk to and she came across like a lifelong wrestling fan. G wasn't. She supported him 100% but she didn't understand a lot of things he needed to vent about so it was good to get a few things that he didn't even want to tell his Shield brothers off of his chest with who he now knew as Delesia. She didn't seem like much of a WWE fan in general because when he asked her favorite wrestlers she named old school male and female wrestlers from Japan. Nevertheless, she listened as he spoke and occasionally gave her opinion._

 _Roman woke up ten minutes before his alarm and turned it off so it wouldn't ring and wake Delesia._ _She looked so innocent and peaceful but her nipples were erect and her vagina was still leaking juices from hours ago. He worried how much of that juice was his. After their chat he went in for a round two. If only Rollins had given him two condoms. He pulled out in time to land on her outer lips but there was the precum factor. This wasn't like him at all. He'd always practiced safe sex in his 'extracurricular' activities out of fear of bringing a baby or STD home to G but there was something natural about Delesia that made him comfortable enough to do it._

 _He jumped in the shower and scrubbed his body for any traces of lipstick or lingering scent of her perfume. The shower was mirrored and he checked his neck and back for marks. As a wrestler participating in a combat sport, he could probably get away with a scratch or two but there was no way he'd be able to pass a hickey off as a casualty of in-ring war._

 _He thought he heard the bed creak but when he stuck his head through the door to check, Delesia was still sound asleep._ _For a moment, he wanted to crawl back in next to her and pretend he didn't have a flight to catch. The urge to curl up next to her, put his arm around her and feel her warm body next to his was strong but he knew two girls who needed him more right now. He tried to move around the room as quietly as he could to not wake her but in a way he wish she'd wake so he could give her a proper goodbye. He didn't want to be that asshole who left a girl alone, high and dry in an abandoned room the morning after. That's when he noticed the hotel notepad on the nightstand. Leaving her his words and his number, he grabbed his bags and headed for the door...until his phone rung. Galina._

" _Hello," he answered. She sounded sleepy as they exchanged words. No matter how early the flight, she always called to see him off._

 _He hung up and that's when the guilt set in. What was he doing? He sat down at the foot of the bed. He loved his fiancé and he loved his daughter. He wouldn't trade either for the world. It only took one woman to make a man's life right and he was marrying her Friday._

 _On the other hand, he didn't regret meeting Delesia but he wish he'd met her much earlier in his life. That's not to say he'd be married to her right now or if anything would come of it at all but he wouldn't feel so guilty for liking her despite being as his cousin put it, 'halfway down the altar.'_

 _He walked back over to note and tore away his number. He couldn't allow her to contact him because if she called, he'd answer and that's not what he needed days shy of his wedding._

 _He was still sleepy as he walked through the airport. Fans who didn't have flights were staked out the airport to get pictures and autographs. He was tired but unless the fan was rude, he never said no._

 _They couldn't be seen together in the airport but in the plane Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins were seated together on the plane._

" _Was good seeing D. Stone last night," Rollins said._

" _Della was here?" Ambrose asked._

" _Dude, you were on the elevator with her," Rollins replied._

" _I was?" Dean raised a brow. "What's she looking like nowadays? The last time I saw her before I signed she'd saved one side of her hair off."_

" _It's grown back and she's still sexy as hell. I tried to get something going with her and her hot friend but they shut me down," Rollins laughed._

" _Who is this?" Roman asked._

" _Indy girl we used to know back in the day. Probably the best female wrestler in the business today. They say she's top 10 regardless of gender but I don't know about all that because I signed when she was just hitting her stride and haven't seen any match of hers since.," Rollins stated._

" _Why isn't she signed yet? Seems like they've been scooping up every indie chick except her," Dean said._

" _She's on that Anti-WWE trip," Rollins replied._

" _Eh, the ones screaming 'fuck WWE' the loudest are the first ones to sign when the contract's in front of them. I expect her to be no different," Dean said._

" _I don't know, man. She's turned them down quite a few times."_

" _That was her pride turning it down. Give her about 3, maybe 4 more years. I'll put 20 dollars on it."_

" _It's a bet," Rollins nodded and they shook on it._

 _ **Friday….**_

 _Roman, Joe rather, was now a married man as his kissed his wife on the beach with a cruise ship in the background. He was ready to leave all the bullshit behind. From this day forth, as the vows said, he was going to forsake all others and be true to only her._

 _When they got back to their room, Joe's phone was buzzing. His messages were full of congrats and he was trending on Twitter. TMZ posted an article. Bystanders must've sent them photos of his nuptials._

" _Shit," he said, tossing the phone on the bed._

" _What?" his new wife asked._

" _We got leaked," Joe replied, thankful that was the only thing that got leaked. He was glued to his phone in the days after the encounter to make sure word hadn't gotten out. He even searched for Delesia to monitor her postings and activity but she had no social media presence which was strange in this day and age. He started suspecting that she'd given him a fake name._

" _It's okay, they'd find out eventually especially if you plan on wearing your ring," was her response._

 _The keyword was: eventually. He wanted time to enjoy his marriage privately first because it leaked to the blogs. He also wanted to protect her from scrutiny. She had an active Instagram and Twitter but she was attacked and harassed in the comments to the point she deleted it and started fresh under a new name for friends and family only._

 _ **Feb. 2015 - RAW**_

 _It was ten minutes before showtime. Roman was seated in the locker room mentally preparing himself because he was opening the show._

 _Dolph was browsing his phone when he looked up. "Hey Rollins, were you just trying to send a DM?"_

" _A DM? What? I haven't touched my phone in over an hour," Rollins replied, confused._

" _Well, this was just tweeted from your account," Dolph turned his iPad around and there was a nude mirror picture of a woman on Seth's account._

" _Is that the tatted up chick from NXT. What's her name? Zahra?" Ambrose asked._

 _Rollins eyes widened in panic. "Holy fuck, Leighla!"_

 _Security knocked on the door. It was time for them to escort Roman to the top so he could make his entrance through the crowd. As he walked out of the locker room, he swore he heard, "oh shit, is this your dick?"_

 _Roman felt bad for him but you could only do so much dirt before it caught up with you. He knew he sounded like a hypocrite for thinking that but his one bad judgement wasn't comparable to what he'd witnessed traveling with Rollins._

 _The crowd booed Reigns as he stood in the middle of the ring mostly because he'd won the 2015 Royal Rumble. Daniel Bryan was the smark's favorite to win and he was facing the backlash. He wasn't used to the response because as the silent enforcer of the Shield he was always cheered in his solo matches and when he received the hot tag._

 _He announced that he was the winner of the Rumble match, the crowd booed that. He said he was going to Wrestlemania and would beat Lesnar, the crowed booed louder. Daniel Bryan's music hits, and he made his way to the ring to a big pop from the crowd. The crowd does the "YES!" chant as he gets in the ring. Bryan stands in the ring as the entire crowd with the exception of one guy in the front row does the "YES!" chant_.

 _Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show and Kane was underway. At the end, Bryan tried to attack Kane but accidentally hit Reigns with a corner dropkick. Bryan doesn't look happy about what just happened. Reigns gets up and yells at Bryan before shoving him down. Bryan gets up and gets in his face and the show went to commercial._

 _Roman could hear Vince's yell before he even stepped back behind the curtain. He was heated and was giving Rollins a good chewing out. Seth looked embarrassed. "You're goddamn right you still have to go out there. You've made your bed, now you're going to lay it in. Somebody hit his goddamn music!"_

 _Seth's theme hits and he ducked through the curtain with J &J Security following close behind. Roman had to admit, Rollins was a good actor because he didn't look half as shaken up as any other performer in his situation would look. _

_Mr. McMahon was still fuming when he caught sight of Roman. He pulled him aside. "Do you have any indiscretions we need to know about?"_

 _"Indiscretions? No, not really," Roman replied._

" _What the hell is not really? I need a yes or no, dammit. When these things happen, more women tend to come out of the woodwork looking for their 15 minutes. More stories are either going to leak on Rollins or other women will come forward on other wrestlers. Is your name going to turn up in bullshit or not?"_

 _"No sir," Roman said._

" _No sir it's not or no sir you don't think so," Vince pressed._

" _No sir, it's not," he lied. He didn't know whether that night would come back to bite him or not. Delesia didn't seem like the type to out him but he was just going off of her vibe. He reminded himself that one night with a person didn't mean he knew her._

" _Good," Vince patted him on the back. "Let's keep it that way. Rollins is H's investment, you're mine. I don't like to be embarrassed,_ _ **Joe.**_ "

 _Mr. McMahon rarely called him by his real name so this was serious. Roman nodded. "I understand."_

 _Later that night in his hotel room, Roman was browsing his mentions on Twitter. It was mostly hate from Daniel Bryan fanboys. But one particular tweet from one of his fans caught his attention._

 _ **SierraHotelofJustice: This is garbage. Why do you lifeless girls lie on RomanReignsWWE. He has a wife and daughter who he loves very much. Keep your fantasies on fanfiction net! *link to the blog***_

 _Clicking the link, it took him to some wrestling gossip page apparently for ring rats._ _He read the title and it stopped his heart._

 _ **My Night With Roman Reigns.**_

 _ **Everyone's talking about the Seth Rollins drama tonight so I've decided to change the tone to something actually fulfilling (aww, are all you TeamRollins girls disappointed? You shouldn't be surprised. The dick never matches the ego.) It was last year. I met Roman after a show. He invited me to his room and gave me the most: Amazing. Sex. EVER! His dick has to be every bit of 11 inches. After it was over, we exchanged numbers and he told me that we'd hookup every time he came to my town and would even fly me out for PPVs sometimes.**_

 _Roman took a sigh of relief as soon as he read 11 inches. He actually laugh and didn't need to finish it after that. He heard a knock on his door and he went to answer it. It was his cousins with Pizza Hut and he was expecting them._

" _That Rollins shit was crazy," Josh said, plopping down on the bed. "Good thing you don't have any bullshit to worry about."_

 _Roman didn't respond. In fact he broke eye contact and dropped his head._

" _Joe?" Jon regarded him with a serious expression. "Do you have something you want to tell us?"_

" _It was last year," Roman started and he was immediately greeted with groans of disappointment from the twins._

" _With who, bruh?" Josh asked._

 _Roman hesitated for a moment, closing his eyes before he said, "Blue."_

" _The girl from the RAW after the Summerslam show? Man, no!" Jon stood, shaking his head at Roman. "That was right before your wedding, too."_

" _Don't remind me," Roman lowered his head down into his hands, covering his face in shame._

" _Think she'll out you?" Josh inquired._

" _That's the million dollar question," Roman replied. "Her talking is the least of my concern regarding that night."_

" _What could be worse," Jon asked. "Please don't tell me she's pregnant."_

" _Nah, you know he's not that irresponsible," Josh answered for Roman but Roman's face told another story. Josh shook his in disbelief. "No! You pulled your first rat and went crazy"_

" _I told you back then she wasn't a fucking rat," Roman grunted._

" _You sound defensive as fuck over a girl who can pop back up tomorrow and destroy your life," Josh replied._

" _His life and his pockets for the next 18 years," Jon added. "How the hell did you let that shit happen? Were you drunk?"_

" _I'd had a few drinks but I wasn't drunk. I don't know what happened. When I did step out, the first thing I did was pullout the rubber. The first time was in the heat of the moment but when it started feeling a little too good I snapped out of it and grabbed one before I finished. I didn't go out that night with the intention of messing around so I only had one condom that Rollins gave me. The second time I took a risk. I pulled out but maybe a second too late but more landed outside than inside though."_

 _Josh looked at him with contempt. "Should've known somehow, someway Rollins had something to do with this fuckery."_

" _This happened in August. It's February so that," Jon paused, counting on his fingers. "If she's pregnant, that'd make her six months. This is going will be your moment of truth, Big Uce."_

 _ **May 2016**_

" _I'm pregnant," fortunately those two words came from the right woman._

 _Joe was ecstatic. They really weren't trying but he knew he wanted more kids. He was emotional but in the back of his mind he wondered if this was going to be a baby he'd lose in addition to G and J if there was an outside child out there somewhere. It'd been almost two years since the encounter so he convinced himself that if there was a baby, Delesia would've shown back up by now._

" _My first appointment is scheduled on a Monday," his wife sounded sad because she knew where he'd have to be every Monday. He knew it was hard raising a child basically alone with him on the road and now another was going to be added to her load._

" _They're just gonna have to write me out some kind of way because I'm not missing this," he grabbed her hand._

 _Joe watched as they covered her in clear gel. She was really big to say they just found out. It took her forever to show with their daughter._

" _You're about 3 months. Mrs. Anoa'i," the doctor said as she ran the wand over her stomach. "Which means we may be able to tell the sex."_

" _Fingers crossed for a boy," Joe commented_

 _The doctor stopped and looked at him. "Sorry, Mr. Anoa'i, you're not having_ _ **a**_ _boy."_

 _Joe wasn't disappointed knowing he was going to have another little girl. He wanted multiple children so there was no reason why they couldn't try again for a boy in the future._

" _You're having two boys," she replied._

" _Twins? Are you serious?" Joe was overjoyed. It'd been a long time since the encounter. It'd been almost two years so if anything was going to happen it would have by now. From this moment on he was going to stop being a prisoner of the past. Now he was looking toward the future with his wife, daughter and new little boys. Every was looking up, his career, his marriage and now his family._

 **Thursday night before Wrestlemania 34.**

 _Joe opened his hotel room door and almost ran into Josh's wife. She was coming there to keep G company and help watch the kids while he went down to see what was up with the WWE party in the hotel venue. He asked G if she wanted to attend but she was tired from the flight earlier. She needed her rest. He was more in love with her today than ever. It took a strong women to be without her husband 80% of the time and raise 3 children on her own if you don't count Facetime and phone calls._

 _Sasha and Bayely were getting off the elevator as he was getting on._ _The good thing about this year's Mania was that WWE booked every room in the hotel so it was strictly WWE employees. He didn't have to worry about bumping into anyone or worried about being interrupted. He loved every fan that loved him but sometimes he just wanted to be Joe and enjoy the little time he had with his family. He used to be open publicly with his family but smarks and marks too it too far when they posted threats to his daughter on Twitter. After that he stopped posting her pictures. He'd never posted pictures of his son and the public didn't know their names. He wanted to keep it that way._

 _*ding*_

 _The elevator opened on the 1st floor and he was greeted by a group of women he'd never seen. They were probably girlfriends of some of the wrestlers. He felt sorry for the guy that they were with because every last one of them were ogling him. He scanned the group. There was a redhead who was shaped like a bodybuilder, a black woman with dreads, a visibly drunk blonde who was staggering in heels a watching him with half closed eyes. Then there was a latina who looked painfully familiar. The next face made his heart stop and then suddenly accelerate. He'd know those blue eyes and lips from anywhere. She looked equally stunned. What was she doing here and why? He realized that the elevator was closing once again so he stepped out._

 _Joe proceeded to the hotel venue. He wasn't exactly in a partying mood anymore but he couldn't go upstairs and look his wife in the eye knowing that everything they had could come crashing down depending on what Delesia wanted._

 _Upon entering, his good friend and travel buddy R-Truth becked for him but right now he needed to be with the only people he could talk about this situation with. He put up one finger to Truth to signal he'd be over there after while but really he had no intention of going back over with this on his mind._

 _His cousins were sitting in a booth along with Jon's wife, Trinity. They could probably read the distress on Joe's face because when he approached because Josh asked, "What's wrong with you, Big Uce?"_

" _Nothing, just tired from the flight," he said as he sat down. He snuck a quick side glance at Trinity. She was cool but not cool enough for him to talk about this in front of, especially with her being close with G._

 _ **Joe: The chicken has finally come home to roost.**_

 _ **Jon: "Blue?"**_

 _ **Roman: Yea**_

 _ **Josh: Oh shit.**_

" _Trin, don't you wanna go upstairs and see what your sister in law and cousin in law got going on upstairs?" Jon suggested._

 _Trinity raised a brow and shot a suspicious look between the three of them. "What's going on?"_

" _Woman! Don't you see men trying to share a drink and chill," Jon told her. He wasn't being serious, that's just how they played with each other.. "Know your place."_

" _Know my place, huh? You better know your place when you dick gets hard later tonight and you tap me on my shoulder," she snapped back._

" _I ain't say all that," he replied, pulling her into his lap. They kissed and when she stood, he slapped her ass._

" _Y'all better not be doing anything y'all don't have no business doing," Trinity warned._

" _Nah, we have the good guy with us. You know Joe's responsible" Josh put his arm around Joe's shoulder but he didn't feel very responsible in this moment._

" _So what happened?" Jon asked when Trinity was out of hearing range._

" _I'm on my way down here with not a care in the world and boom, there she is at the elevator," Joe recalled._

" _What is she doing here?" Jon questioned._

" _Hell if I know and I couldn't ask because she was with a group of women," Joe replied._

" _A group of women, huh? In a hotel that's only hosting wrestlers? I told you that bitch was a rat," Josh replied._

 _Joe was about to open his mouth to argue but the fact was, he couldn't think of any other reason why she'd be here other than meet with wrestlers. "I just need to know that she's not here to cause any trouble for me ahead of Mania."_

" _You're right too. All it'd take is one lie to hop on this 'Me Too' train for your career to be over," Jon said and he was definitely right. All the men in the entertainment industry who really committed a crime against a woman deserved to be punished and lose their career. But he hadn't done anything wrong besides adultery but if Delesia decided to lie for 15 minutes of fame, the public wasn't going to care about innocent until proven guilty. That was going to be it for his career, his family and his life._

" _What's your status with her?" Josh asked._

" _My status?"_

" _Have you talked to her since it all went down to see where he head is? If you have text and email exchanges after the fact it can dispute a rape claim," Josh replied._

" _No, she doesn't have my number or any contact info on me. I haven't talked to her since we fell asleep that night," Joe said. "But I don't think she'll pull that card. I'm more worried about her saying we had sex in general than anything."_

" _Think you should call Vince?" Jon asked._

" _For what?" Josh asked him in return._

" _Enzo didn't tell what he had going on and you see what happened to him. If something goes down, they can at least have PR people on standby to do damage control or pay her off if she's here to blackmail him," Jon explained._

" _Good looking out, but I don't think it's that serious," Josh replied. "Being under police investigation for sexual assault and running into a chick you fucked with years ago is two different things. This may be something we can wait out."_

" _I'm still trying to figure out how she booked this hotel," Joe wondered._

" _What does she do for work?" Josh asked. "The other year when Fandango had the group of dancers, they were booked there too."_

" _Yeah, you mentioned something about a group of women she was with so maybe they're some kind of dance team," Jon added._

" _I do remember her body having a some muscle tone to it but I don't know what entrance would require dancers this year," Joe said._

" _Well, I'm coming up blank," Josh replied._

" _Me too. Oops, wrong choice of words," Jon laughed._

 _Like Josh said, this was probably something he was going to have to wait out. He contemplated telling G so she wouldn't be blindsided but if it came out to be nothing, he'd still lose her and his children._

 _ **Two days before Wrestlemania 34**_

" _Boys, you have to learn how to share," Joe softly told his baby boys. It seemed like just yesterday they were newborns. Now they were walking, running, playing, saying words and tussling with each other. He was always jealous of the connection Josh and Jon had with each other. Joe had a brother, now deceased but he was much older than by 16 years so by the time Joe was old enough to need a big brother, Matt was already out of the house and on the road with WWE._

" _I swear I packed them" he heard his wife talking aloud to herself._

 _When he walked into the suite bedroom she was on the floor with the contents of her suitcase scattered around her._

" _What's going on?" he asked._

" _Nothing, it's nothing," she replied but he could tell she was lying. "Would you be terribly disappointed if we skipped the hall of fame this year or maybe you could go but leave me behind?"_

" _Huh? Is something wrong with your dress?"_

" _Not the dress, the shoes," she replied._

" _Leave my beautiful wife at home over some shoes?" he scoffed. "No. I only get one opportunity a year to show you off and I'm not letting it pass me by. We're in New Orleans, not the boondocks. We can probably walk down the street and find you a pair."_

" _Yeah, probably but will they be the right shoes. You know how they are. They'll analyze any hair out of place and any wrinkle in my dress," she replied. They being a small group of his "fans."_

" _They would sell their soul to be you just for an hour," Joe kissed her forehead. "I'll call my mom over to watch the boys."_

 _He was surprised at how upbeat he sounded with his past lurking somewhere in this hotel as he spoke. He felt like shit as he watched her get the kids dressed. This could destroy everything he had._

 _In their rental car, G was playing with her phone. "I have this shopping app that tracks my current location and shows me the best stores in the area and there's this boutique not too far away from the hotel if we can get through traffic."_

" _Let's go," he said as they pulled off. He circled the parking lot of a boutique but it was full. He stopped in the middle of the street and unlocked the door. "This is your best chance of getting in while I hunt for a park."_

 _The boutique smelled like old lady perfume as he entered. The sales associate's mouth dropped when she saw him. Galina looked annoyed and he wondered what that was all about as he handed her her purse. Jojo wanted to try on dresses and as his little girl, he gave her whatever she wanted._

 _Looking around, he stopped in his tracks when his eyes met hers. What was she doing here? She was holding a gown and so were her friends. Would she be attending the HOF, too? This shit was too much of a coincidence. Was she here to taunt him and dangle what happened between them in the face of him and his family? That's when the anger set in and her going into the dressing room was the perfect opportunity he needed to get to the bottom of it. He waited anxiously as his daughter found a dress to try on and he rushed her to the dressing room._

 _Joe laughed when she told him that she was a wrestler but she didn't crack a smile and looked serious. That's when he remembered pieces of Seth and Dean's conversation the morning after._ " _Was good seeing_ _ **D**_ _. Stone last night." "I tried to get something going with her and_ _ **her hot friend**_ _but they shut me down." "_ _ **Indy girl**_ _we used to know back in the day."_ " _She's on that_ _ **Anti-WWE**_ _trip." Now it all made sense how she was able to critic matches and keep up with his wrestling pillow talk. He listened as she told him off and felt incredibly stupid when things got sorted out._

 _He didn't know how to feel about her being WWE employed. She established that she wasn't here to ruin his life and she seemed sincere so that put him at ease. There was one thing that bothered him though as he zipped down her dress: he still found himself strangely attracted to her even though he was now married. That wasn't going to be a problem though because there was a difference between lusting and acting out on it and he was determined not to do anything that would jeopardize his marriage._

* * *

By the time it was Roman's time to go out to face the crazy Post-Mania crowd, Triple H and the girls had moved to gorilla position. They were standing inches apart and it felt awkward to avoid eye contact or small talk with someone you shared your body with but that's how it had to be to avoid suspicion. It was out of character for him to be seen having too much conversation with a female superstar anyway. He usually spoke and kept it moving when it came to his female coworkers. He definitely couldn't talk to Delesia anyway with Monique or Monica having already seen them near each other coming out of the dressing room.

He looked different than he normally did when he walked out and he wasn't just referring to his forehead. Even when he was going out to do a promo, he was normally dressed in his black cargo pants and combat boots. Today he felt as if he was going out to the ring as Joe so his hair was pulled back in a bun, mostly because management wanted his scar displayed, he had on sweatpants, tennis shoes and a muscle shirt. He even did something rare and walked out still wearing his wedding ring and a Rolex.

The crowd reacted how he expected and after Samoa Joe cut a promo on him, he made his way to the back.

"9121," Della said to Elias as he keyed it into his phone. He replied something that made her laugh. She looked up and as soon as she noticed him standing there, her smile faded and her eyes widened in alarm as if she'd been caught. She diverted her attention back to Elias but it wasn't with the same enthusiasm as before.

Roman was lowkey glad to see that reaction. It let him know it wasn't just him feeling weird despite having no reason to. He was married and definitely didn't owe her anything and Della especially being single didn't owe him anything since she could talk to, date, give her number away to and fuck anyone on the roster...but that didn't mean Roman wanted her to.

* * *

 **Done. Finally. Bye.**


	3. Chapter 3

_WrestleNewsScoops' backstage news from the Performance Center._

 _*American born Cuban, Marina Diaz will now be billed from Cuba after Cuban fans were left outraged when the 25 year old high flyer's NXT profile page on the WWE website listed her hometown as Juarez, Mexico. There's also talk of dropping her new ring name, Giada._

 _*Both Mr. McMahon and Triple H are reportedly high on Della Stone and see her as the future of the women's division. Separately, Mr. McMahon is high on supermodel turned wrestler Sadie and reportedly enjoys the backlash from smarks and feminist WWE fans over her "return of the diva" promo while Triple H is high on Marina and the returning Cassie._

* * *

Monday, April 24

 **Elias: Hey**

 **Elias: What's up?**

 **Elias: If you want me to leave u alone just say it. It's embarrassing to keep scrolling down a long line of one sided texts. & at least have the decency to turn off ur read receipts.**

"If you don't plan on texting the guy back why did you give him your number?" Marina said from over Della's shoulder in the NXT locker room.

"The next item on my grocery will be a privacy screen protector," Della said, zipping her phone into her purse. "And I did text him back."

"For like a day and then you ignored him. He even DM'd me on Insta to ask what your problem was. I didn't write him back because I don't know your problem either," Marina shrugged. "It's been three weeks. I don't see a reason why you wouldn't talk to him unless you still have the other him on the brain."

"Why are you so down on the other him all of a sudden? Four years ago you practically handed me to him on a silver platter."

"Four years ago I didn't know he was days away from his wedding. Today he's married with multiple children and is still obviously into you and you into him," Marina rolled her eyes as the exited the locker room and ran into other NXT performers. "Hey...hi…"

"Obviously? What do you mean obviously? Outside of the dressing room and that fake introduction, we didn't speak two words to each other," Della said as she tied her hair into a ponytail as they headed to the practice ring.

"You didn't have to. It's all in the eyes. If he wasn't following you with his, you were stealing peeks at him with yours."

"I think you're being paranoid and looking for stuff to read into."

"If or when I catch him in our apartment, will it be paranoia then, too?"

"Girl…" Della shook her head as they caught sight of their peers already in the ring.

"Sadie, it's okay to want to prove something but you're going to kill yourself or your opponent!" Cassie exclaimed, watching the YouTube video of Sadie's proposed finisher.

"Let me see?" Della climbed between the ropes and entered the ring.

"This. It's called The Vertebreaker," Sadie said, showing her the video. The wrestler twisted his body around so that the opponent is facing the ground and the opponent is standing with his back resting against the opponent's back. Then the wrestler stood while the opponent is in an upside down position while both the opponent and the wrestler's arms are still hooked. The wrestler then drops to a sitting position.

"Uhm, you're progressing very fast and have made a full turnaround from your pre-Mania work but don't you think that's a little too advanced for you at this point? Besides, they'll never green light that move. Hell, they won't even let me use my indy finisher!" Her finisher was the burning hammer that she adopted from Japanese legend Kenta Kobashi that he only used seven times because of the dangerousness of it. It was extremely protected and no one has ever kicked out of it except Monica which is another factor that might've led to the match's five star rating. The move was dangerous because she put her opponent in an over the shoulder fireman's carry and then fell sideways driving her opponent's head and neck into the mat. She couldn't use it anymore because the trainers were afraid that one of their performers would land wrong and break their neck which she understood.

"Well help me find something! I don't care what but it has to look cool," Sadie replied. "I can even have one of those high flying finisher. I did gymnastics for years until I got too tall and turned to modeling."

"Uhm, that's my lane…" Marina scoffed.

"Relax, I'll never be able to touch your spider monkey athleticism."

"We'll work on that later when we see how athletic you really are," Della told her.

"Good, you girls are already in the ring. Vets pair off with rookies and let's see what you got," Sara instructed, walking up.

Sadie ran off the ropes(horribly), Della ran towards her full speed with a clothesline attempt that Sadie ducked and avoided. Della grabbed Sadie's wrist to Irish whip her into the turnbuckle but Sadie caught Della and applied a headlock. She clamped it on hard and Della could hardly breathe. "Shit that's tight, Sadie!"

"Sorry," Sadie whispered in Della's ear, loosening her grip.

Della reversed the headlock into a scoop slam and went for a pin attempt. Sara counted. 1-2, Sadie's shoulder raised.

"Let's show Sara some of your signature moves," Della whispered, allowing Sadie to go on offense.

Because her gimmick was a throwback to the diva's era, her moveset reflected it. Sable bomb. Corner foot choke, Stacy Keibler. Handspring back elbow, Torrie Wilson. Stinkface, Kelly Kelly. Slowest tilt-a-whirl headscissors takedown ever, also Kelly Kelly.

Sadie didn't have a lot of technique down yet but goddamn was she stiff. Della wrestled men before and their powerbombs didn't have a third of Sadie's impact.

It was now Della's turn to take the match back over. She caught Sadie from behind and applied a sleeper hold. She noticed Sadie's hand lifting and moved her mouth to her ear. "Don't tap, don't tap, just sell. Be prepared to bump and don't forget to tuck your neck."

Della hooked Sadie's other arm with the sleeper still applied, Sadie jumped to assist Della flipping her into a suplex. Sadie stood on wobbly legs, Della bounced off the ropes and took her down with a dropkick.

"Boom!" Marina exclaimed from the floor. If an audience was present they would've popped because the high angled dropkick was one of Della's signature moves and a sign that the match was coming to a close.

"Do you remember how to take my finisher?"

"The Burning Hammer one?"

"No, the Della Driver 92," Della replied. This was her secondary finisher. It belonged to another Japanese legend Mitsuharu Misawa. He called it the Tiger Driver 91 which is when he created the move. She called it the 92 because that was her birth year. It was a double underhook piledriver that appeared to land the opponent on their head and neck but really, they landed on their shoulders so it was safe.

Sara got down and counted the 1-2-3. The 'audience' of her peers and men in one of the other rings clapped as Sara raised Della's arm. Then Della helped Sadie up.

"Veterans, tell me what you noticed," Sara requested.

"That Della had to dumb her moveset down so that Sadie could halfway keep up," Monica commented.

"You would know," Della mumbled.

"I think she did good but she has to work on how she takes the moves" Cassie said.

"Yeah, I was going to say the same," Marina added. "She freezes up and braces for impact way before Della actually hits her moves so she definitely has to work on her timing."

"What I notice is your facials," Sara critiqued. "It's like you don't want to look ugly and that may very well work with your gimmick but if Della puts you in a Texas Cloverleaf, your face can't look like you're posing for a photoshoot."

Sadie stared for a moment and then all at once broke into tears. She ran over and sank herself down in the corner turnbuckle. "I thought I was doing good."

"You were," Della went over and assured her. "No one is shitting on you. It's just constructive criticism, that's all and knowing what you're doing wrong will only help you become a better wrestler."

"Other than your selling and rope running, you made no mistakes as far as your moves," Sara kneeled behind Sadie.

"Yeah, you didn't fuck up as much as I expected," Monica said, although backhanded, Della was surprised to hear it coming from her.

"Not you, Monica!" Marina raised a brow and smirked.

"Don't get used to it," Monica snapped back.

Sara cleared her throat. "The Mae Young Classic is in two months. Some of you will make it, some of you won't."

Marina vs Tonya was slow and Tonya was confused on how to take and sell most of Marina's flashy moves which is understandable. It took a pro to be able to work with Marina which is why Della wasn't surprised that Marina's moveset was going to be neutered before she hit the main roster.

Because the group was an odd number, Cassie, Monica and Tierra participated in a triple threat. Tierra, being a track and field star, moved around the ring faster than anything Della had ever seen but because she moved so fast there were a lot of botches and missteps on her part.

"Do you feel better now?" Della whispered to Sadie when the practice matches were over.

"A little," Sadie sniffed.

* * *

Tuesday, Della ran errands around Orlando. She hadn't decided whether or not she missed living in Los Angeles. They were both warm and sunny and she could still go to the beach whenever she felt like it. The people were much friendlier in Orlando than uptight LA but she didn't know whether that was a good thing or bad thing because a lot of bizarre news stories happen in Florida. Either way she preferred both over her hometown.

She picked up the privacy screen protector like she said she would and went grocery shopping. Her next stop was a wellness store. It was pretty empty except for a few muscle heads scattered about. As exaggeratedly large and juiced up as they were, this store did not have the product they needed to maintain that look. She grabbed a cart and went straight to the sports nutrition section. She picked up a few protein powders and bars, vitamins and supplements and muscle milk.

 **Marina: Wya?**

 **Della: Wellness store.**

 **Marina: Bring me a detox or cleanse. I've been eating like shit since we've gotten signed & I know my body is out of whack.**

 **Della: K.**

Della pushed her cart toward the back of the store and didn't stop until she turned on an aisle that had 'Women's Fertility' sign on one side and "Women's Detox and Cleanse" sign on the other.

"Hey, Della," she heard a familiar voice speak low.

When she turned her head she saw the back of his bun sticking out as he stared at fertility supplements. He looked slimmer like he'd dropped the extra weight he was carrying pre-Mania weight. He wasn't the first wrestler she's run into since living here since most of them lived in either Orlando or Tampa. "What's up."

"Uhm, can you not look around," he replied. "A few weeks ago a fan tweeted creepy security footage of me in a gas station. Never know who's watching the cams so I'd rather we not have a face to face, eye to eye conversation potentially leak."

"Ok, gotcha," she nodded, turning her attention back to detox options. "Trying for another baby?"

"What? Oh," he must've noticed what he stood in front of. "Nah, G has her hands full right now. I noticed you duck off into this section so I thought I'd come say hello."

She smiled. "Well, hello."

They both froze as the wheels of a cart slowly rolled by. It was an older couple who never looked over.

"Yeah, this isn't going to work," he said.

"What?"

"This method of communication. We don't know who'll walk by and everyone knows it doesn't take a year for you to pick a detox and they know I don't have no business on this aisle in the first place," he explained. "You got a number?"

"Sure, it's 310-555-9121," she replied and he plugged it into his phone.

"Alright, I gotta get out of here. It's about ten minutes to 3 and I have to pick up my little girl from school and rest up for an early morning flight," he said walking away.

Della became giddy, squealing like a schoolgirl when he disappeared. But she knew she shouldn't feel this way especially with him being married. On the other hand, she didn't know what the talk would entail so it could be harmless. She'd just have to wait and see.

* * *

Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into days since he walked away and Della constantly stared at her phone awaiting a message or call that never came.

"What's going on with you?" Marina asked as she browsed clothing in a costume store.

"What do you mean?" Della sighed, trying on a pair of black combat boots.

"That, that sigh is what I mean. You'll look at your phone and then you'll either look sad, sigh or both. Don't tell me you finally texted Elias back and he ignored you. It's what you deserve," Marina laughed. She picked up a gold sparkly one piece leotard and pressed it against her body in the mirror. "Doesn't this look like something Beyonce would wear? Add some knee pads and boots and we have a lewk!"

"Your ass will look great in it," Tierra yelled from the other side of the store.

"No, it's not about Elias but I might as well text him back at this point," Della said, picking up her phone.

 **Della: Hey**

 **Elias: Who is this?**

 **Della: Della.**

 **Elias: O, u went so long w/o replying I deleted u.**

 **Della: Sry about that.**

 **Elias: Is this gonna be like last time when u went back & forth for a day & then u disappear?**

 **Della: Nah, I'm here to stay...for now. I was only signed for like 2 weeks before Mania. I wasn't really settled into my new life yet so I had a lot going on when I got home from N.O.**

 **Elias: Cool, cool. Not blowing you off but I just got off of a long flight to Saudi Arabia for this show and I'm wiped out.**

 **Della: Oh yeah, Greatest Royal Rumble. That's fine. I'll be here.**

 **Elias: :-)**

"I'm sorry but I'm not wearing anything out of here," Sadie held up a bedazzled top in disgust.

Today the ladies were getting ring gear inspiration that fit their gimmick.

"Because Donatella Versace has always said Gianni's dream was to have his clothing represented in a wrestling ring covered in blood, sweat and wrinkles," Monica snorted.

"It's not that the clothes are cheap or not designer, they're just...basic. My character is the opposite of basic," Sadie explained.

Marina picked up a pale pink short see-through lace dress, a white bralette top and bottoms that were the cut of boy shorts. "What about this?"

Sadie squinted. "That could work with heels and some Victoria Secret Fashion Show style wings."

"You know you can't wrestle in heels and it'll take forever to get the wings off, right?" Cassie replied.

"Plus it's not really marketable," Della added.

"What do you mean by marketable?" Sadie asked.

"Nowadays it's all about selling merch and your look has a lot to do with that. Little girls can easily buy a hat, turn it to the back and a Fearless shirt...boom, Nikki Bella. They can buy a pink wig, shutter glasses and knuckle rings to turn into Sasha. For Bayley all they need is a side ponytail, hair ties and a shirt," Della explained. "When I was in the indies my look was a bandana with my logo on it covering my head, a cropped version of my shirt, knee high boots if I decided to wear shorts or combat boots and knee pads if I wore long tights. All of that can be recreated. I don't think they'll be able to sell wings and heels in the WWEShop."

"That's the thing though, her character isn't supposed to be marketable or attainable," Marina said.

"That's true but she still can't wrestle in heels," Della acknowledged.

"She can change in the ring, delaying the match to take off her wings, jewelry and switch into her wrestling boots. It'll help create cheap heat for her," Marina suggested.

"Ohh, like Naito when he comes out in his suits," Della nodded. "I get it."

"Exactly!" Marina replied.

"Knowing WWE and their wonky booking, they'll probably add her to the Fashion Police and call it a day," Cassie laughed.

"No, as excited as Mr. McMahon was over her promo, he has bigger plans for her than filler segments," Della said.

Tierra's ring gear was going to be a singlet with no knee pads to show off her muscular legs and thighs. Cassie's ring gear was leather and was inspired by bondage outfits. Monica wore pretty much she wore on the independent circuit, a red corset, a thick black choker and black pants. Tonya picked a blue catsuit with the sides cut out. Della was going to keep her old look.

"Can we debut already?" Sadie groaned. "We look too hot to be held in the back."

* * *

 **Thursday, April 26th.**

"Does this look centered to you?" Marina took a few steps back, holding a hammer. She was arranging all the belts they'd won on the wall. Together they had eighteen.

"Maybe raise the left side a little and you'll have it," Della instructed. Her phone vibrated on the coffee table.

 **Unknown Number: Delesia?**

 **Della: Yes. Who is this?**

 **Unknown Number: Damn, how many ppl do you give ur # 2? It's Joe...**

Her skin prickled from excitement. She'd been waiting for this moment for days now.

 **Della: Not many but no one calls me Delesia except family so I had to ask**

 **Joe: You busy?**

Della looked up to see Marina's lips moving but she didn't hear anything she said. Marina's voice became audible again mid sentence. "...if you're cool with it, I think we can afford it."

"Huh? Who? What?" Della shook herself back to reality.

" _I said_ , before I get too deep into decorating, what do you think about moving out of this apartment and getting a three bedroom house because Sadie wants to move in with us. You have your endorsement money, she still has modeling money left and my contract is decent so if you're cool with it, I think we can afford it," Marina repeated. "Everybody's paired off except her. Tonya and Tierra just got an apartment together, Cassie lives with her boyfriend and Monica lives with one of her wrestling buddies."

"That's cool. We get along with her more than the others anyway," Della shrugged.

"It'll also keep you from trying to sneak _him_ in here. You know I'll be pissed but would ultimately look the other way but you won't try that shit around an outsider," Marina stated.

Della scoffed. "You're still on that? I thought we settled this a few days ago. How does a few glances turn into sneaking him into our house? Anyway, I'm going to leave you to your paranoia because I need to go lay down."

"Yeah, you do look a little anxious or something," Marina shot a concerned glance her way.

 **Joe: I guess u are. I'll try again another time.**

 **Della: Sorry for the delay. No I'm not busy.**

As Della entered her bedroom, she was startled to hear the Facetime tone. Her hair was in a ponytail that she snatched free and fluffed it. She laid across the bed and found her best angle before answering.

Della smiled at the camera when she saw his face. Her heart fluttered when she saw his brown eyes. She could see that he was in a hotel room and he was laying on his back, head resting on a fluffy white pillow.

"Hiii!" He yawned after his said it. With bags under his eyes, he looked exhausted.

"You look so tired," she giggled.

"I am. It's 12:38 in the morning here," he replied. She looked at her time. 4:38 PM. "This is touring season for us. Got a few days rest after that post mania RAW, had another RAW, then we went to South Africa for a few live events that weekend. Then we flew back for RAW, I came home Tuesday morning which is the day I ran into you, headed to the airport the next day. When this is over, the European tour starts."

"Yikes," she grimaced knowing that's what she had to look forward to once she hit the main roster.

"I hope you don't mind me FaceTiming you. I didn't want to text too much, no screenshot evidence."

"I have something far more incriminating on you than some screenshots so if I haven't spoken a word about that in 4 years, what do text messages mean to me?"

"It's not just you. With all these phone hackings going on nowadays I'm not taking any chances. I've already deleted the exchange we had."

"You're definitely right about those hacks," she laughed.

They stared at each other in silence, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"You didn't tell me you were a model, either. What other jobs do you have? Am I going to go to the dentist one day and find you giving me the gas?"

"I'm not a model then and I'm not one now. None of this stuff started happening until last year. Been researching me, huh? What else did you see?"

"A couple of matches…they were alright. The matches with Marina were meh. The five star match was decent at best," he smirked. "Apparently you're a big deal in wrestling. Every time your name has been brought up it's all praise and I can see why. Do you know when you're coming up?"

"No, but hopefully when I do I'll be shipped straight to Smackdown, a place where they'd never send their precious little face of the company," she teased. "Since they're bring back duel pay per views, the most I'll have to see you is one night a month."

"Yeah, that's probably for the the best," he agreed. "Just having you around for that short period of time was awkward enough."

"I thought it was just me."

"So what about you. What did I miss in four years?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your life. Do you have a boyfriend or husband at home? Hell, four years is a long ass time so maybe you've had a baby or two."

"A baby while living this life? Nope. No boyfriend either so a husband is out of the question."

"I'll let you slide with no husband but no boyfriend? Nah, I don't believe that shit," he shook his head.

"Bee-lee that. Ugh, I'm so lame," Della groaned, suddenly embarrassed. She jerked the phone away from her face.

"I guess you did get something new in those years," his voice was husky when he said it. She remembered that the phone was away from her face and unintentionally, she gave him a shot of her braless breast in a white tank. The breast were the same but the new additions were nipple piercings.

Blushing, she brought the phone back up to her face. "Oh, sorry. What were we talking about?"

He blinked as if he was trying to remember himself. "I prefer this so called lame version of you over the original shy version and damn sure the version that cussed me out in the dressing room."

"Yeah, I cut the promo of the year on that ass," she laughed. "I mean, but can you blame me? After four years our first convo begins with you threatening me and then laughing at the thought of me wrestling? Sir, this is my life's work! I had to drag and read you."

"I see and you're well respected in this industry so sorry about that," he replied. "I can't believe you listened to all that wrestling related pillow talk and never felt the need to share that."

"For one, I was burned out thanks to you and my wrestling journey is a long one so I'd be talking all night. And two, bedding the Roman Reigns doesn't happen everyday so whatever you had to say, I was going to listen."

He smiled. "Well anyway, back to your boyfriend."

"I told you I don't have one of those," she shook her head.

"Why?" he turned over on his side. She was already on her side so in a way it felt like they were eye to eye in bed having this conversation.

"One reason is because the only males I'm around 99% of the time are wrestlers. Most of you male wrestlers have major egos and it's not cute. Besides you, I've never messed with wrestlers because it feels incestuous."

"Excuse me?" his brows knitted in the middle of his forehead. "I've heard a lot of good reasons why some don't shit where they eat but I've never heard no shit like that before."

"It does. We go through the same emotions, fears, thought process and pain. Most of the time when two wrestlers talk to each other, it's like looking in a mirror. For some, that brings them closer together as a couple. For me, it's like dating a brother or cousin since the wrestling community is like one big family."

"I have a lot of family members but you definitely aren't one of them so get that out of your mind," he snorted. "What's the other reason?"

"I don't know. I've always been career oriented. Wrestling first, everything including love and sex came secondary. Never been in love and I only have sex once every few years. I was celibate 3 years before you and 4 years after you."

Roman sprung up from his pillows. "You mean to tell me you've been letting that good pussy go to waste for four years?" he covered his face with his hands. "Shit, I did not mean to say that. Let's change the subject. What did you think of my Mania match?"

"It was…good"

"Be honest."

"It wasn't your best match but it takes two to tango and if your partner doesn't give a fuck, what can you do? I've had my share of matches like that before," she replied. "You wrestle him again tomorrow, huh?"

"Today for me," he said. "By the time you go to sleep tonight, wake up in the morning and eat breakfast, you'll be able to watch it."

"Are you going over?"

"Where's the fun in telling you that? There'll be no suspense if you know the outcome."

"Oh please, the Mania match gave me enough swerve and suspense to last a lifetime. Tell me," she asked.

"Can't do that," smirking, he shook his head.

"Really? I thought we were better than that, _Joe_."

"Don't Joe me like it'll change my mind," he laughed. "I don't even give my wife and daughter spoilers. Shit, when we returned to the hotel that night congratulation balloons were floating around in the bathroom because G assumed I was going to win."

"Awww, but I did too," Della chuckled. "All of the others wanted to go before the main event but I wanted to stay for your coronation. Betting wrestling fans lost a lot of money that night."

"I'm sure they did," he flashed an evil genius smile. "Anyway, how's Elias?"

Della shrugged, smiling internally knowing that he did in fact notice. "You're both on the main roster and he's currently in Saudi Arabia with you so you'd know more about how he is than I would."

"I'm not the one in communications with him so..."

"Me either, well not really," she replied. "It's been, what, three weeks since I gave him my number and we've only talked twice."

"Why is that?"

"He's handsome and seems nice enough and maybe I can get into him if we talk more but he wouldn't have been my first choice out of all the men WWE have to offer."

"And who would be?"

She smiled. "Let me change that to out of all the single men WWE have to offer."

"Fair enough," he nodded.

"I did have a crush on 2003 to 2011 Orton before he got old, bloated and started showing his ass with his new wife," she admitted.

"Eh, he's always been a dick from what I know, he's just at the stage in his career where he can be open with it."

"Well, yeah, it's made his attractiveness plummet in my eyes. I think he likes Marina though so there's that. The wife is a latina or something so maybe that's what he likes now."

"What's up with her? She mean mugged the fuck out of me every time her and I locked eyes. It was a long time ago but I remember her being much friendlier four years ago."

"She feels like you're a threat to our career now that we've made it to WWE…"

"How?" he raised a brow.

" _Hypothetically_ , let me say it again, _hypothetically_ , if you and I picked up where we left off, once again I say _hypothetically_ and it became a backstage scandal, who do you think they'll get rid of? The face of the company or a disposable female superstar? We're also codependent so if I walk away in shame, she'll follow."

"Well that Jojo, Bray shit made the tabloids and she as a ring announcer is more disposable than you, one of the top talents in the world. But anyway, we won't have to worry about that happening so tell your friend I'm harmless."

"Can I ask you something," she took a deep breath.

"What?"

"Why did you throw your number out?"

He didn't immediately reply, in fact he looked confused until it clicked. "I knew you were awake! I don't think I should say it. I shouldn't be talking to you period right now but I wanted to kind of clear the air between us hoping it'll tackle the awkwardness next time we crossed paths."

"Please…" she gave him her best puppy dog face, batted her eyes at him.

"That face…" he sighed. "I was on my way to get married. I didn't need someone like you contacting me."

 _'Someone like you.'_ Her mind immediately went to rat, whore, slut and her feelings slowly began to hurt. "What the hell do you mean, someone like me?"

"You're probably the most beautiful woman ever, judging by YouTube content I've come across you're badass and talking to you that night and even right now..." he paused. "...I can tell you'd be easy to fall for. I didn't want those problems then and I don't want them now which is why I'm going to say goodnight," he didn't even wait for her response before hanging up in her face.

"Harmless my ass!" Marina's voice caused Della to jump. She was staring at her from the edge of the bed. Della hadn't even noticed her walk in. "Now try denying you two still being into each other again. I dare you!"

"Marina, I don't know how much you heard but-"

"Just stop! I heard the whole thing down to your good pussy that he'll be back in again soon enough if I don't watch you! How many years are you signed?"

"I asked for a year just to see how I liked it here and then if I did we'd negotiate a long term deal. If I don't like it, I'm free to go."

"Good. Half of that will probably be spent down in NXT and hopefully the other half on Smackdown. After that we have to get you back to the indies ASAP because your time here in WWE is not going to end well if you stay," Marina replied.

 **Elias: Hey, couldn't sleep...wats up over in the States?**

Della stared at the message before tossing her phone over to the side, ignoring it. "You're absolutely right."


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is going to be long. It was supposed to be 2 separate chapters (Mae Young Classic Part 1 & The Finals/Roman Meet Up Part 2) but then I realized that my schedule for the next few weeks is going to be hectic and I'll have time to jot things down but won't have the opportunity write material so I decided to go ahead and give everything here and now.**

* * *

"The format to this year's classic is going to be the same as last year's event. There will be 32 competitors. We're going to pretape 8 episodes for a week, we'll upload the entire tournament on the Network two weeks after that and then, the finale, episode 9 will air live after RAW instead of Smackdown like last year because per Mr. McMahon, the winner will not only win the trophy but a spot of RAW," Sara informed all the ladies of NXT as they stood around a practice ring.

"Yay!" Monica exclaimed sarcastically. "Are you excited, Della?"

"I'm sure everyone is," Della brushed her off. If they were amongst their own group she would've went off but being singled out in front of everyone, Della decided to keep it cute.

"Yeah, we should but you should be _extra_ excited," Monica shot back and a few quiet mumbles of agreement were heard in the background. By now, word had spread that Della was both Vince and H's "pick" so while she was cordial with everyone in the women's locker room, she hadn't made many friends beyond the group she came in with.

After Sara was done talking, everyone scattered, some lingering for their turn to talk one on one with Sara, others heading back to the locker room.

"So…" Marina turned to her when most were out of ear shot with them. "...a spot on Raw."

"Yep," Della nodded, giving no reaction.

"...where _he_ is," Marina added.

"Yep," Della nodded a second time, once again giving no reaction.

"Yep? That's all you have to say, Delesia?" Marina sounded annoyed by Della's lackluster responses.

Della let out a prolonged exasperated sigh. "What do you want me to do, Mariana? You were eavesdropping on our FaceTime conversation so I know you heard me tell him that I wanted to be on Smackdown away from him. I'm not excited about this but what can I do? Tell Vince, ' _hey can I just have the stupid trophy and an NXT title shot?'_ or maybe, ' _hey, can I go to Smackdown instead because a few years ago I fucked your top guy and if I go to RAW, my friend thinks there's a possibility that I may fuck him again._ ' There is absolutely no way I can get out of this without looking ungrateful."

"I know," Marina shook her head. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"Multiply your worry by ten and you'll feel how I feel. This is _my_ life, _my_ career, and _my_ reputation on the line if anyone finds out. I don't want to go up this early in the first place but if I just had to, I definitely didn't want it to be on RAW."

"Sara, will I be participating?" Sadie asked Sara.

Sara closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Sadie, you've come a long way but you're still extremely green. _ I_ would never have you debut this soon but of course, I don't make the decisions or book the show. Triple H does and he doesn't want you to participate either but Mr. McMahon makes the finally decisions so congratulations. Your first opponent will be Della because he thinks she'll help you showcase your...skills...better than the other competitors."

"Yes!" Sadie cheered but her celebration abruptly ended. "But wait, if I'm facing Della that means I'm going to be eliminated in the first round."

"What did you expect?" Marina snorted.

"I didn't expect to win but I at least wanted people to see my super cool entrance twice," Sadie pouted.

"That's what Youtube is for," Marina replied. "Oh, I'm sorry, the WWE Network."

"If it makes you feel any better, Mr. McMahon is constantly asking about your progress which means you'll probably make your NXT debut soon after the tourney ends so there's that," Sara forced out.

"What about us? Will we be entering?" Tierra asked on behalf of herself and Tonya.

Sara shook her head in a firm negative and they looked disappointed. "Sorry, ladies, I've already seen the match-up schedule down to the finals and neither of you were listed. Once again, if I made the decisions none of the newbies would be participating to be fair, but I don't."

"The finals?" Della asked. "Who is going to be in it?"

Sara gave Della a pointed look. "I think you mean who else is going to be in it."

* * *

Della spent the next week looking at wrestling related forums and betting sites. Most fans had Della winning the entire thing with Marina a strong contender, followed by Candice LaRae and then Monica.

Sadie made Della rehearse their match all day, everyday. They practiced so much, Della could wrestle Sadie in her sleep, literally, seeing as they went ahead and bought the three bedroom home and there they rehearsed on Sadie's huge California King Bed. That's where they were right now and that's where they collapsed. Marina slid in on the other side. When the lights went off, glow in the dark star stickers lit up the ceiling. It was so childish, so...Sadie.

"I'm really worried about tomorrow…" said Sadie's disembodied voice said in the darkness.

"Don't be. You're going to surprise a lot of people," Marina replied.

"Shit, I wasn't exactly the ring technician I am today in my first match. I tripped going up the ring steps, I tried to pin my opponent on her stomach instead of their back and I popped her shoulder out of socket. If you can manage not to do any of that, I think you'll be okay," Della laughed. "It was Sara by the way."

"Our trainer, Sara?" Sadie asked.

"Yep, we called her Death Rey back then," Della confirmed. "And she popped it right back into socket mid-match. Creeped the fuck out of me but a few years later I popped mine back in during a match too."

"I gotta see this."

"Someone uploaded it on Youtube years ago and I tried to have it removed but decided to leave it up to show that even one of the greenest can become one of the greatest," Della yawned. "Now go to sleep because we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

* * *

"Today we're filming episode one, there will be four matches, Aliyah vs Bianca Blair, Monica vs Dakota Kai, Marina vs Lacey Evans and the main event, Della Stone vs Sadie. But first, we're going to get this Parade of Champions out of the way," Sara informed.

"What's that?" Sadie whispered. Her blonde hair was pinned up in gigantic hair rollers and her concealer and contour lines weren't blended yet.

"All 32 of us are going to walk out and smile and wave and shit as we're introduced," Della whispered back.

"The exaggerated makeup, blood red lipstick, thick lashes and push-up bras...must be showtime," Marina rubbed her hands together.

"Marina?" Sara called from the corner and Marina walked over. Della watch the conversation unfold. Both were talking back and forth but it didn't appear to be going well. Rather intense if Della were to guess.

"Wonder what that's about?" Monica walked up beside her dressed in her bustier top and leather pants.

"I don't know but I think we'll see in a minute," Della shrugged.

Marina walked away while Sara was still talking. She looked pissed, very pissed when she approached. "This is such bullshit!"

"What?" Della asked.

"I'm winning my match but I can't use the Cuban Destroyer tonight...or ever because Dakota Kai has already debuted her own sloppy ass version of the Canadian Destroyer at NXT live events!" Marina growled. "I've been using that finisher for 8 years, she's only been using the motherfucker a few months but it's me who has to change?!"

"Yeah, that's fucked up," Monica shook her head. "I'm facing her tonight if you know what I mean."

"Well, on behalf of your same day signing sister, stiff her one good time," Marina hissed firmly.

"Sure thing," Monica held her fist out to dap her and Marina dapped her back.

"She also wanted me to tell y'all that we have to slow down and not give 100% out there just yet because these aren't big matches," Marina stated.

"Say what?" Della replied.

"Welcome to the WWE style, kids," Monica commented.

They went out for the bullshit parade and headed back to the back. Della parked herself in front of one of the monitors to watch the matches that preceded hers.

The very impressive Bianca won her match against Aliyah and Monica vs Dakota was coming to a close. While Monica was down, Dakota took the opportunity to walk around the ring in order to hype the crowd but Monica took advantage and connected with a stiff superkick, it sounded off loud when it connected to Dakota's chin and not as a result of Monica slapping her thigh. Dakota immediately gripped her chin and the pained expression on her face looked legit.

"Holy shit, Marina, what did you do?" Della's jaw dropped. "I wouldn't be surprised if Monica kicked a tooth loose."

"I was just upset and talking shit! I didn't think she'd actually do it!" Marina looked equally horrified.

"You know I'm the only one who understands your shit talk! Do you know how many crimes I would've committed over the years if I took you at your word!"

Monica hoisted Dakota up for her finisher, the Uranage which was a Judo throw and won the bout via pinfall.

"The winner of this match, Monica…" Boos followed as the ref raised Monica's hand since Monica played heel the entire match.

"I guess it's my turn now," Marina stood and pulled her leotard out of her butt and her latin instrumental theme started.

"How do I look?" Sadie turned around in front of Della. She was wearing a Dior white couture dress, a Dior clutch purse, Dior stilettos and Dior sunglasses.

"Like...a supermodel," Della nodded in approval. She wore a white 'I hate Della' crop shirt, denim shorts, a black bandana covering her hair and wrestling boots that stopped right under her knee pads.

"That's exactly what I was going for," Sadie replied and Della turned her attention back to the monitor.

It seemed that Marina was setting up the Cuban Destroyer before remembering she couldn't use it anymore. She instead kneed Lacey in the stomach, Lacey fell down selling in the middle of the ring so Marina took the opportunity to move to the top turnbuckle to execute a corkscrew shooting star press. The crowd went crazy for the move and flipped their lids when she got the 3 count.

"I warmed them up for you," Marina gave Della a high five as she came back through the curtain. She was sweating a little and her cheeks were red.

"I feel like I have to throw up," Sadie groaned.

"No you don't," Della laughed. "That's just nerves but by small chance, if you actually have to, please get it out of the way now before you get out there. The internet never forgets."

"I'm not worried about that. When I was in the height of my modeling career, I had pictures and viral videos of me passed out or throwing up," Sadie replied. "That's part of the reason I'm here now."

Mr. McMahon walked up to them with the NXT general manager, William Regal. Vince looked very proud. "These two are _my_ girls. Look at them! They're going to make me a lot of money and bring in mainstream press."

"Yeah, Della also has a five star match, you know," William added.

"That too," Vince replied, not getting it.

Della's theme sounded like a bootleg version of Rihanna's song, Hard. The crowd was going insane when she walked through the curtains. It felt good to be treated like a big deal in her first WWE match.

Della went around and stood on all four turnbuckles and posed for the crowd until her music ended.

Boos began before Sadie's theme even hit. Two women walked out with an aisle runner to cover the ramp. It was white, sparkly and had a giant S printed on it. Men holding paparazzi cameras lined the sides of the ramp and the arena went dark. Sadie's theme was some upbeat catwalk music and a spotlight shined on her as she strutted with perfect technique: shoulders back, breast out, legs trotting like a horse. Sadie stopped occasionally to pose for the fake paparazzi cameras.

Della saw the WWE camera turning to her for a reaction so she got into character, tapping the ref's shoulder and spoke loud enough for the cameras to pick up, "Are you just going to stand here and allow this to go on?"

He shrugged, taking cue speaking equally loud. "I can only control what goes on after the bell rings."

Sadie finally made it to the end of the makeshift catwalk and did one final pose for the actual WWE camera before walking up the steps.

"Bitch, just get in the ring!" someone in the front row yelled.

Two of Sadie's assistants ran up behind her to open up the ropes so Sadie could climb in the ring.

The ref gave a signal to the side and the bell rung. Della moved to lock up but Sadie took a step back.

"Wait!" Sadie shouted, fanning a hand over herself. "I hope you don't expect me to wrestle in a 4,000 dollar outfit!"

Sadie's assistants pulled out a portable, pop up dressing room from under the ring and Sadie entered. This was working just as plan since the crowd booed her louder than before.

"I'm pretty sure the bell has sounded," Della told the ref.

He went over to one of the assistants. "She has 30 seconds to get out here or she's disqualified!"

There was a lot of bumping around and shadows. The crowd was in on the countdown. "8-7-6-5-4-3-2…", Sadie emerged right on schedule in her wrestling gear.

Della and Sadie locked up in the middle of the ring and Della used her strength to knock Sadie down to the mat.

That's when the "you can't wrestle" chants started.

Sadie did a kip up and was back on her feet. "Neither can any of you which is why you're out there paying to see me try!"

They locked up again and Sadie applied a wrist lock, but Della immediately countered into an arm bar. Sadie used her long stilleto nails to rake at Della's eyes; Della hissed, breaking the hold and releasing Sadie. Sadie stood and posed while the crowd booed. She got directly in front of the camera and told the cameraman, "make sure film me from my good angle...oh wait, that's every angle."

While Sadie did that, Della snuck up behind her and pulled her down into a Boston Crab submission. Sadie sold it, screaming, squirming and balling up her fists. She was also very flexible because when Della really locked it in and leaned back, she was sitting on Sadie's head. Finally, Sadie reached the ropes and the ref made Della release the hold. Even after releasing the hold, Della wasn't done with her yet, she drove her knee into Sadie's back and stretched out both arms so Sadie couldn't break the hold with her hands but Sadie, having long legs put her foot on the rope.

"Break it," the ref said to Della.

"Fine," Della grumbled, holding her hands up.

The two locked up again, with Della overpowering and backing Sadie into the corner, where she held her until the referee forced a clean break - Della then began stomping Sadie down which the crowd loved. Della Irish whipped Sadie across the ring into the other corner, before dragging her backwards for a backbreaker over the knee.

Standing, Sadie tripped Della and Della landed face first into the mat. Sadie grabbed a handful of Della's hair and tied the strands around the ropes and began kneeing Della in the back of the head. That action was met with boos.

"Let's go Della!" chants rung out.

That infuriated Sadie as she yelled at the front row. "Oh, this is who you like? Is it because she slummed in musty gyms for years catering to you losers? That's not my style...but of course, what do _you people_ know about style?"

The ref moved to untangle Della while Sadie took the time to stomp Della's calves behind his back. Furious, Della hobbled to her feet, selling the calves. She let her chest rise and fall in anger as Sadie backed away in fear. When Della began to charge, Sadie pulled the ref in front of her and the ref was speared hard by Della to the mat.

"Sorry!" Della replied as he groaned, rolling onto his stomach.

Della shoulder tackled Sadie into the corner and forced her to sit on the top rope. Della climbed up and when Sadie tapped her thigh, signaling that she was ready to take the move, Della hit an avalanche hurricanrana for a big pop. When Sadie was flat on her back in the middle of the ring from impact, Della went for a somersault senton. Raising Sadie's leg, the crowd counted "1-2-3" but the counter who mattered, the ref, was still down.

Della crawled over to check on the ref, while Sadie stomped her calves again. Grabbing one, Della rolled over to her back, grasping it in pain.

Sadie pinned her and that's when the ref decided to wake up. "1-2." Della's shoulder lifted right on time.

Sadie ran over to the apron to celebrate her actions. "Did you see that? I almost had your precious D. Stone down for the count!"

Della booted her in the back and Sadie fell out of the ring. Della then climbed to the top rope to attempt a triangle moonsault to the outside but her calves gave out and she fell back onto the mat.

Sadie climbed back onto the apron and Della went to her from behind and pulled her into a successful snap dragon suplex. Sadie looked folded in half. That was met with a "holy shit" chant as the apron area was the hardest part of the ring. Della began dragging Sadie into the ring to pin her since pins couldn't be counted on the apron but Sadie kicked Della in the calf again. Sadie then caught Della with a stiff sit out powerbomb that actually popped the crowd in her favor and there were a few scattered "Sadie" chants that were quickly drowned out with boos. Della saw Sadie getting ready to smile in response so Della hissed through her teeth, "don't you dare break character!"

"1-2" the ref said before Della's shoulder raised. She was still laying in powerbomb position on the mat so she used that advantage to kick Sadie in the face.

"Not my face!" Sadie screamed, shielding herself with her arms. She crawled on all fours over to her assistants who were waiting ringside. "How do I look? Am I bleeding? Bruised? Swollen? Go get me a mirror!"

Sadie was handed a handheld mirror to inspect herself. She turned her face from side to side. "Is that redness I see?"

"You were kind of in the middle of something, remember?" Della asked Sadie from behind. She turned Sadie into position for the Della Driver 92 (Tiger Drive 91) before whispering, "in 3, 2, 1…"

The ref slid down to the canvas to count. 1-2-3. The crowd cheered and Della's theme played. Sadie's assistance jumped into the ring to check on her.

Marina was waiting in gorilla showered with wet hair. "That was a very entertaining match."

"Yep, that's how I planned it. Everyone knows she can't stand toe to toe with me in a wrestling match but she could get somewhere using cheat tactics," Della explained.

"That's what I like to see," Mr. McMahon inserted himself into the conversation. "Do you know how many people told me I was crazy for allowing her to wrestle this early in her training? I knew with the right person, you, she could do something great and she did. Excellent main event, girls."

Della saw Triple H and Sara watching her from the corner. He turned his head and Sara approached. "H doesn't feel comfortable having this conversation with you so he sent me to talk to you."

"Is it about the match?" Della asked.

"Sort of," Sara nodded. "You know WWE is PG right?"

"Yeah?" Della thought back over what happened in the ring. She didn't recall cursing or doing anything non-PG.

"You might want to tape your breast, double your bra, whatever you have to do when wearing light colors because even if your _accessories_ aren't visible to your eyes when you look in the mirror, the lighting out there and cameras will make them visible to the audience watching at home," Della flushed red with embarrassment when she realized Sara was referring to her nipple rings. When she looked over at Triple H, he looked awkward so she mouthed, "Sorry."

A knock on the door took Della's attention away from her Chinese takeout at the dinner room table.

"Who is it?"

"Monica…"

"Monica?"

"I come in peace," she replied. "And bearing gifts."

Della looked through the peephole and saw Monica holding a bottle of wine and a pizza. She swung the door open. "You may enter."

"Who was it?" Marina never looked up from dutifully struggling with her chopsticks.

"Our good frenemy," Della replied.

"What? Don't make me think you actually like us now," Marina replied.

"I don't," Monica replied, pulling a chair out. "Tonya and Tierra live in my apartment complex but it would've been awkward to celebrate my debut with them considering they were stuck watching in the back."

Marina smiled. "We had our first WWE match tonight. How do you feel?"

"It's going to take some time to get used to playing to all the cameras, making sure the hard cam catches all the moves and making sure our facial expressions are on point," Della replied.

"You know where we come from there was only one camera, if that," Monica added. "After all these years, I'm trained to just go out there and wrestle. The bright lights and elaborate sets is a big change too."

"Speaking of elaborate, Sadie Bug's entrance! Mandy Rose and her struggle walk have been found dead! That was some Wrestlemania caliber shit! Someone went live on Instagram during it and that's all everyone is talking about," Marina said.

"That's not all they're talking about," Sadie walked in holding her MacBook. "Some wrestling blogger who was in attendance did a write up on the match and gave me a great review and people in the comments section can't wait until it airs to see for themselves."

"Didn't we tell you that you'd surprise a lot of people tonight," Della replied.

"I'm one of those people," Monica said. "I hate to admit it but you weren't a total disaster out there tonight. You showed a lot of promise and nobody can call you _Eva Marie: The Sequel_ anymore since you're miles ahead of her...which isn't saying much."

"Thanks, I guess," Sadie answered. "Let me tweet out: _Sadie's coming to put her stilettos on your favorite's neck._ "

Monica rolled her eyes. "Okay, let's not hype her up too much to the point where she thinks she's set. Sadie, you still have a long way to go. Besides your character work, another big reason you looked good out there tonight was because of Della. Della is on her way up so she won't be there to carry you through your next match and I doubt you'll have weeks to rehearse it like you had this time."

"I almost forgot. Monica, what the hell were you thinking when you almost superkicked Dakota's head off? I don't want to say I was joking because I was legit pissed but I didn't mean it literally," Marina said.

"Eh, I'm stiff in general," Monica shrugged. "Your bestie over there can confirm that. I just put a little extra 'we're here now, bitch' force behind that kick."

Della nodded. "Yeah, she is stiff."

Sadie raised her glass to propose a toast and the others met hers to a loud clink. "To...we're here now, bitch!"

* * *

Della didn't wrestle again until it was time to tape episode 5. The competition was slim now. She wrestled Candice LaRae. The match was okay but Della was annoyed by the constant camera cuts on Johnny in the audience. Okay, they're married...and?

When the match was over, Triple H pulled her aside. She knew it wasn't about the nipple rings since she'd made sure to take them out before the match.

"What is that shirt?" he asked.

Della looked down at herself. She was wearing a cartoon drawing of herself with 'Stoner' written under it. "My fans send me custom made shirts all the time so I decided to wear them until I get my own merch. Don't worry, none of the shirts I wear are up for sale on any outside vendors or anything."

"That shirt being for sale is the least of my concern!" HHH replied. "Everyone knows what Stoner really means and your cartoon self is depicted as high with red, barely open eyes! There's even clouds of smoke in the background."

"I didn't think anyone would notice."

"This isn't an indie show down at the YMCA. This is the big leagues, we actually have HD cameras that catch everything. You should know that from your previous incident," he replied which added to her embarrassment. "Look, I told you from Day 1 that you could keep your name, character and identity. I only said you had to drop the cursing but I just assumed you'd know that you had to get rid of your other vulgarities, as well. Personally, I don't care because it is a cool shirt but we have kid friendly sponsors shoveling money into our product and they won't go for shit like that."

"Sorry," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Looks like it's going to be a rough transition from Rated R Della to PG Della."

"That's why you're here in developmental, to learn," he replied.

"Doesn't look like I'll be here learning for much longer…" she said.

"You don't seem as excited as the average performer moving up are when they get the big news."

"Well, the average performer is probably stuck down here for at least two years or more. I signed at the end of March. It's late June. I'm sure you can count but I'll say it anyway, it's only been three months. Nothing I've done here yet warrants such an early call up."

"I know you want to pay your dues and I also suspect you don't want to leave your best friend but the old man wants what the old man wants," he shrugged. "I wouldn't have you go up simply because NXT has some great female _talent_ but it's lacking in _stars_ but at least we'll have Marina...and Sadie."

Speaking of Marina, her match against Cassie was under way. They were trading chops back and forth before Cassie ducks a head kick from Marina, only to run into Marina's Spanish fly for another near-fall.

"The crowd loves her," H commented. "That flippy shit she does is going to get her over fast when she hits the main roster."

Monica's match against Vanessa Bourne was a less than 5 minute squash.

"What do you think about Monica?" she inquired.

"Monica is a very solid worker but she relies too much on wrestling. I know that sounds ass backwards and it was fine on the independent scene but with WWE being storyline based, you have to have some sort of charisma or it factor. We have a roster full of good wrestlers, what's going to make her stand out from them? Plus she's only as good as her opponent. She mostly works strong style and needs someone who can sell her strikes and is precise enough to make her offense looks effective. I don't think she would've brought what you brought out of Sadie. But like I said earlier, this is development and we'll work on that with her," he answered.

* * *

Episode 8, the semi-finals was finally upon them.

"Della, you'll be wrestling Marina," Sara said, reading from her paper. Della was sad because that meant Marina would lose tonight and would not be in the finals. "Monica, you'll be wrestling last year's winner, Kairi Sane."

Della was mentally preparing herself for Kairi. She'd never faced her in a one on one match but they did square off briefly during a tag match in Japan. They had decent chemistry. It was impossible not to love her so Della knew the crowd would get behind Kairi. Della was a tweener but she worked as a vicious heel when she had to and that looked like the case for the finals.

Monica was laid flat in the middle of the ring as Kairi went up top to execute her elbow drop but as Kairi came down, Monica rolled out of the way, causing Kairi to fall face first. Monica jerked her up for her Uranage that Kairi sold like death.

"No way?" Della gasped.

1-2-3. It was over.

"Maybe they want to recreate the magic of the 5 star," Marina shrugged.

"I guess they missed the horrible follow-up to that match," Della grimaced. "It was a dud."

Della looked down at herself. Her nipple rings were at home and she was wearing a plain black crop top with no offensive design. She wanted to make sure there was nothing that would cause her to receive a lecture post match.

The ring was cleared and Monica and Kairi were on their way back down the ramp.

"You ready?" Marina asked.

"I'm always ready," Della replied.

"Cool," Marina nodded.

That's all that needed to be said. They never discussed spots. They'd been wrestling each other for so long they didn't need to. They just went out there and worked. Marina made her entrance first and Della followed. Their reception was about what and what but Della's was slightly louder. They shook hands in the middle of the ring before the bell rung.

They opened with some very fast paced exchanges. Marina was continually too quick to remain in Della's grasp for long but Della constantly had a counter for everything Marina did. Della also prevented her from executing flippy shit in the first ten minutes.

Della applied an arm-wringer, Marina flipped out of it and Della re-applied it immediately. Marina ducked two lariat attempts, Della went outside for a breather, and Marina hit a space flying tiger drop to the floor. Della recovered and hit a superkick on Marina from the apron. She wrenched on Marina's neck and sent her into the barricade.

A few fans started booing Della's actions. "Am I supposed to take it easy on her because she's my best friend? All is fair in friendship, wrestling and war."

Back inside, Della continued working over the neck with a draping DDT and a torture rack. Marina slipped out of it but Della continued her assault on the neck with a chinlock. Marina slipped out of a chinlock and hit a rebound enziguri. Marina really started selling intense neck pain, and was just barely able to hit another enziguri and a standing shooting star. Marina covered her but Della kicked out at 2.

Della went for a neckbreaker, but Marina escaped. An intense stare down ended with them getting in each other's face.

"What? Are you mad because you can't put on your usual glorified cirque du soleil show?" Della taunted which earned her a punch from Marina. Della punched back and Marina punched again. Della got the best of a strike exchange, but Marina was able to hit a dropkick. Seemingly unphased, Della applied a cross armbreaker, then transitioned to a triangle choke. Marina powered up and hit an incredible looking imploding 450 splash from the top rope but Della managed to kick out.

The crowd was split. "Let's go Della...Marina!"

Marina went to the top rope this time for her new finisher, a corkscrew shooting star, but Della raised her knees up and as Marina writhed in pain on the mat, Della kicked her in the back of the neck.

There were dueling "this is awesome" and "5 star match" chants and they hadn't even gone into the finishing sequence yet. Della was feeling it. The adrenaline pumping through her body was intoxicating. She felt more awake and alive during this match than she had any in a long time. She could tell Marina felt the same since her pupils were wide and dilated as if she'd just snorted a line of cocaine.

They traded slaps and Marina caused Della to bite her own tongue with a hard European uppercut and followed it with a flurry of strikes. Marina bounced off the ropes with a running missile dropkick that flipped Della over the ropes and out of the ring. Marina went for a suicide dive, but Della managed to catch her, countering the dive by falling backwards into a DDT.

A "fight forever!" chant broke out.

Della signaled for the commentators to get out of the way and they fled the table. Della tossed Marina on top of the table and then climbed up herself. The crowd was on their feet waiting for what was about to come. Della kneed Marina in the stomach and hit the Della Driver 92. The table broke underneath them. Della squeezed Marina's arm while they laid stretched out on the floor and Marina squeezed her back to signal that she was okay. They recovered for a few seconds before the ref started the 10 count.

Della scrambled to her feet and was back in the ring by 5 but Marina was slow to get up but made it at 9. Della immediately went for the cover and to everyone's surprise Marina kicked out right as the ref's hand was coming down for 3.

"What?!" Della yelled at the ref. "I imagine she did kick out of the world's slowest count!" Della conveyed visible frustration as she flung her hair out of her face. She wasn't thinking as she slowly slid her thumb across her neck and dived on top of Marina, rolling her into a Crossface Crippler. She saw a lot of jaws drop in the crowd. Marina tapped within seconds and the bell rang.

Post match the crowd gave a standing ovation as both women showed each other respect with a hug and walked out of the ring together, Della holding the ropes open for Marina to exit.

"We killed it," Marina whispered.

"Fuck the finals, this match is going to be the talk of the classic," Della replied. Little did she know…

Everybody including male NXT wrestlers were standing in gorilla waiting for them but they weren't clapping like the roster usually does when two wrestlers put on a great match. They all just stared at her.

Sadie approached. "What did you do?"

"Shit, I'm waiting on you to tell me," Della was confused by the question and the crowd of onlookers. "What's going on?"

"Triple H rounded us up to meet you two in here when the match was coming to a close. We stood here watching on the monitors, everybody was hype and then you did something in the closing moments that made H go off and now everybody is shook," Sadie explained.

"What did I do?" Della wondered aloud, thinking back to those closing moments and then her heart stopped. "Oh shit!"

As soon as Triple H walked back into the scene, she knew she'd fucked up, she saw it in his eyes.

"Would you like to explain to me what the hell you were thinking out there?" Triple H demanded, yelling down at her. "I didn't think I needed to hear you lay out your matches move by move but maybe I should've if I'd known you'd go out there and pull some bullshit like that."

"I've been using a crossface for all 12 years of my career," Della address her shoes because she couldn't meet his furious gaze.

"You didn't just use _a_ crossface because if you did, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you. Banks uses _a_ crossface, Bryan uses _a_ crossface, Cena uses _a_ crossface, hell, I use _a_ crossface but you used _the_ crossface. It was unmistakable especially since you lead into it with the bastard's cut throat gesture," he replied. That bastard being Chris Benoit.

"I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry. I just got caught up in the match," Della looked remorseful and sounded ashamed. "Since it's pretaped, can it be edited out?"

"Edited out? What the fuck can editing it out accomplish in 2018 when smart phones exist?" he held up his phone to show a cellphone video of the finish being retweeted. "Chris Benoit is already trending on Twitter! We've gone over a decade without any mention of the bastard and now we're going to have to do damage control because of you! Look, just go home and we'll figure out a way to get out of this shit tomorrow."

Della wished she could disappear into the ground as she did her walk of shame in front of the entire NXT locker room.

The next morning, the dirt sheet headlines were crazy. It was mostly " _Heat on Della Stone after using the infamous Crossface Crippler_."

Her mentions were a mix of fans condemning her, thinking she was awesome for rebelling against the unwritten rules of the WWE and her fans supporting her. It was turning into a shitshow so she decided to address it.

 **Della: I want to put out a statement if it's alright.**

 **Triple H: It's fine but send it to me first to make sure it's PR friendly.**

 **Della: Here it is…**

 _I'm sure by now everyone has heard about a moment I had in my match last night. I in no way used that move as a tribute or in that person's memory and I certainly am not an apologist of a murderer and the despicable acts that he committed. If you look into my history, I've actually scolded fans who thought that person should be in the HOF, acknowledged by WWE or even remembered in a positive light._

 _On the independent scene in 2006, a year before the incident took place, I made my debut using that move as a submission. At the time of the incident, I was a heel and continued using it for cheap heat. After so many years, I stopped associating it with that person or for cheap heat and used it because it became my own. Before last night I hadn't used it in a long time, years. Yes, the matches are "fake" but our emotions during the matches are real. At that moment I just wanted to use something that would bring the match to a close and because I was attacking Marina's neck, I used a submission that would strain it further. Given the history that the person the move and gesture are associated with has with the company, I should've known better than to use it here in WWE but when your adrenaline is pumping, you don't think, you just do._

 _I apologize to any fans I may have disappointed, I apologize to WWE for unintentionally digging up a name that should've remained buried 11 more years and then 11 more after that but most importantly, I apologize to the deceased wife's family for causing the story to resurface again and the hurt that may cause._

 _-Delesia Jennings._

 **Triple H: Sounds good to me.**

 **Della: Do I really have heat?**

 **Triple H: Did I say you had heat?**

 **Della: No.**

 **Triple H: Let me fill you in, kid. Whenever something happens, no matter how small, the sheets run that "heat on *insert wrestler*" story so no, you don't have heat. However, I'm very disappointed in you. You're not Sadie, someone who doesn't have extensive knowledge of wrestling history. You've been in this business since you were a teen so like your statement says, you should've known better but all the greats have had fuck ups and controversial moments along the way (including myself) so you're on the right track. Live and learn.**

After she tweeted out her statement, WeStandWithDella began trending.

 _StonerGirl99: Jimmy Snucka killed somebody too so every time Tamina SNUCKA's name is called, we're also reminded of a murderer so why can't Della use the stupid crossface. WeStandWithDella!_

 _BringBackPyro: Macho Man fucked an underaged Stephanie, Stone Cold beat Debra, Shawn Michaels was a pill head, Ric Flair a cokehead and the Ultimate Warrior was a racist, homophone and talked shit about people with disabilities yet he has his own award at the HOF but Della has heat? WeStandWithDella!_

 _RemoteHavoc04: Daniel Bryan's gimmick before the Yes Movement was basically a Benoit tribute gimmick (head butt, crossface variation, etc.) but he goes on to main event Mania and is one of WWE's biggest stars. Misogyny or nah? WeStandWithDella_

 _BrendonOmega: Roman Reigns is a flop and he continues to get chances. Why can't Della have another chance? WeStandWithDella_

 _ **DStoneWWE:** Stoners, I appreciate you guys always having my back but I don't really require defending on this one. Just let me take my L but if you must, can you please refrain from dragging others into it? Thx._

 **Joe: Around anyone?**

 **Della: No.**

Her FaceTime tone went off and she quickly answered.

He was already laughing when his face came into view. He was sitting up and appeared to be in a car. "What the hell did you start? I'm reading through this WeStandWithDella stuff on Twitter and your fans are going in. I even caught a few stray bullets from them."

"So we're just going to talk as if you didn't hang up in my face the last time we did this FaceTime thing? But yeah, the Stoners are vicious. If someone talks shit about me, I rarely have to respond because they'll do the dragging for me," she said. "I'm not getting trashed too hard by the main roster, am I? Triple H already embarrassed me in front of the entire NXT locker roster last night."

"Nah, it's not that serious to us. It's probably not even that serious to Vince since no mainstream sites are picking up the story. It's just stuck in the wrestling related sites, forum and social media bubble," he replied. "What possessed you to do that?"

"I wish I knew. I was just in my zone and when I'm in my zone my body takes over and my brain takes a backseat. I'm sure you can relate," she said.

"Yeah, I've had a moments like that myself. I haven't done anything _that_ extreme but I've switched into autopilot quite a few times."

"I didn't know how much controversy it would cause. It's been eleven years, who even thought folks would still remembered it."

"Marks never forget, ever. They remember every insignificant moment of the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras so they definitely remember a signature move and gesture of a prominent figure. Anyway, apparently that match was the semifinals which means you're going to the finals and will potentially be the newest member of RAW?"

"50, 50 chance, yeah," she nodded.

"Guess I'll see you in a few weeks," he replied.

Without answering, she hit the red button.

 **Joe: what happened?**

 **Della: Payback for u hanging up on me. ;-) But yes, see u in two weeks.**

Della was humming, practically skipping down the hallway without even realizing it. Marina was sitting on the kitchen counter eating a bowl of cereal at 4 in the afternoon. "Why so giddy?"

"I talked to H a little while ago and I don't have heat!"

"I knew you wouldn't. You know your nickname in the indies was Teflon Del. Nothing ever sticks," Marina laughed.

"Well, yeah, you know," Della smirked, walking back down the hall. She was about to knock on Sadie's door until she heard voices inside.

"Thank you! That's why you're the best!" Sadie exclaimed. "Nowadays you can look at a girl and tell she has them. No one knows mine are fake because you do mine conservatively. Less is always more."

"I'll be back to do your microdermabrasion tomorrow, Sadie."

Della was about to flee when the door opened and an Asian nurse stepped out carrying a case. Curious, Della peeked inside to find Sadie sitting on the bed with swollen lips.

"Don't worry, they go down after a few days," Sadie said. "Come in. What's up?"

Della had to direct her attention to Sadie's eyes. It was hard. "Between tomorrow and the finals, do you want to come gear shopping with me?"

"Gear shopping? What happened your marketable bandana and merch shirt?"

"That's staying but for the finals I want something a little more...stylish, if you know what I mean."

Sadie raised a brow. "Which main roster guy are you trying to impress? Is it that Elias?"

"Why does a guy have to be involved?"

"Oh please," Sadie scoffed. "You pretty tomboys are all the same ' _look at me in my baggy pants and bare face. I'm so different even though I have better skin, thicker hair, fuller lips, bigger tits and a nicer ass than all those girly girls that I try so hard to separate myself from!'_ Never fails until the right guy comes along and they come consulting their opposite. Now who is he?"

"Bitch, did you just read me in my own damn house? And it's nobody specific."

"Trying to make a good impression on your first day?"

"Something like that."

"I'm not doing anything tomorrow except the microdermabrasion but of course I can't go out like this," she pointed to her lips. "We'll make it happen though."

"Ok, let's do it," Della replied. She walked to the door before turning around. "Also, can you not mention this to Marina and when we get to RAW, if she mentions the new gear can you tell her it was your idea?"

Sadie chuckled. "And the plot thickens…."

* * *

 **Part 2**

"This year's Mae Young Classic has gotten almost three times the views as the first, especially your matches, Della," Stephanie informed Della and Monica days before their match. "Our social media team has been watching the message boards and people are really hyped about the finals, not only because of the five star rating your previous match received but because there's apparently some legitimate heat between you two. Care to talk about it?"

"Heat? No. Friendly competition? Sure," Della replied.

"We're actually getting along better now than ever but that's not saying much," Monica added.

"Well, can you two save the kumbaya for another day because today we're going to have a sit down interview. We're aiming to do a shoot angle live on the Youtube channel to keep people excited about the match," Stephanie said.

There were 3 chairs placed in the middle of the ring in the empty full sail arena. A makeup artist was tracing Della's lips with liner and a hair stylist was spraying Monica's hair. Stephanie sat in between them in the middle chair.

"We're ready," the camera man said and the hair and makeup team exited. He gave a signal and the red light appeared on the camera signalling that they were filming.

"Monday, live after RAW on the WWE Network, Della Stone and Monica will renew their globe throtting rivalry during the finals of the Mae Young Classic but today, it is my privilege to have them both join me for a sit down interview so they can show you why you can't miss this match up," Stephanie said.

Della stared Monica down to play to the cameras, Monica was stone faced and Della responded with a piercing glare of her own.

"If we go by the numbers, technically, these two had the greatest women's match in recent history," Stephanie read from the teleprompter. That's where the scroll of words ended and it was up to them to do the rest.

"Nice of you to acknowledge that I was apart of that match, too, Stephanie. A lot of people seem to forget about that," Monica said, finally breaking eye contact with Della.

"Care to elaborate?" Steph replied.

"Gladly. I've had people in this very company walk up to her while I was standing there telling her how great _her_ 5 star match was. Last I checked, it wasn't Della Stone vs Della Stone; she did not wrestle herself," Monica snapped.

"Do you have a theory on why that may be, Monica?" Stephanie asked.

"Here we go," Della slumped down in her seat with a heavy sigh.

"It's obvious, Stephanie. Nowadays the industry is _allegedly_ inclusive so we pretend that looks don't matter anymore but they do, they always have and they always will. When she was still a green rookie, she was being hyped up because of her looks. When we average looking women are good in the ring, no one cares because we're _suppose_ to be good but when someone who looks like her is able to work a halfway decent match without botching, she's the best ever. Of course she's worth the hype now and no one can take away her talent but there's a reason why we both have been in this industry for over a decade and most wrestling fans just found out I existed this year," Monica finished.

"Della?" Steph prompted.

Della rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Blah, blah, blah. The same old, _'woe is me she only got this opportunity because she's pretty_ ' thing is getting tired after all these years. Yes, I look a certain way and yes, I have a bigger male fanbase that support me because of that but that's not something I can control. What I can control is my dedication and work ethic and I'm second to none in that department. In fact, over the years I've had to work harder, bump harder and grind harder than some men just to prove myself to women like you who have never respected me even though I've given all you bitc-uh, _haters_ your best match."

"And there it is. That arrogance, cockiness and ego is what makes you so insufferable, Della. Despite what you and your stans think and how the bookers present you, you are not god's gift to women's wrestling. But they always say, the greatest wrestling characters is the person's _real_ personality turned up to ten so good job," Monica said with a slow, sarcastic clap. "And if we want to talk about respect, let's talk about how you have none for your fellow woman. In fact, if the match or angle doesn't benefit her, she doesn't give a fu-"

"We're PG!" Steph quickly cut Monica off.

"...a damn, sorry," Monica continued. "Della is all about Della and let's not even get into her backstage politicking. As a matter of fact, there's speculation that there may be a historic women's Wrestlemania next year and do you want to know how she responded? _'There's first and then there's best_ ' once again showing that she only cares about her. She might as well be a man because she's definitely not pro-woman."

Della responded with a humourless laugh of disbelief. "Do you really want to go there with the pro-woman narrative? Just a few minutes ago you basically admitted your envy of pretty female performers. I've been in countless locker rooms around the world and if I've ever had heat with anyone, best believe the other person started it first. You on the other hand make enemies everywhere you go! You're a bully. You've cause at least 2 women to quit and poor Sadie probably would've quit too if it wasn't for us encouraging her. Should I go on? Because if I do, B.A. Star will be contacting WWE to make sure you don't set foot in that ring Monday."

"So no comment on the backstage politics?" Monica pressed. "When was the last time you lost clean? When was the last time you put someone over? No one ever comes out looking better than you in a feud except maybe Marina. And the only reason you probably aligned yourself with her is because you saw how talented she was, knew she was going to become a big deal and needed her so you two could go on to form a Super-Politicking union to hold every women's tag team championship title hostage."

"I'm not even going to address that Marina claim. I thought this was a sit down interview not a wrestling conspiracy theory segment," Della scoffed. "So I booked my own matches back then? Don't get mad at me because I'm a bigger draw than you. I've never and would have never gone up to a booker and said, ' _hey, I refuse to lose to Monica'_ or _'I'll lay down for Monica but she has to cheat her way to victory_ ' and I don't appreciate you insinuating that knowing how fans and dirt sheets take stuff and run with it. In the great words of Birdman, _'I ain't got no more talkin._ ' Whatever I have left to say to you will be said in the middle of that ring next week."

"Tune in, folks," Steph said into the camera. When the cameras were off, she sighed. "That was intense. Do we need to have you two escorted to the back to make sure a fight doesn't break out?"

"Nah, what was said today is nothing different than what we've been saying to each other for years," Della replied.

"We've actually said worse to each other behind closed doors," Monica added with a chuckle, standing from her chair.

"Stephanie is so fake nice," Della commented when they exited the ring.

* * *

 **Sunday evening...**

Sadie lifted her phone high above her head as they stood on the elevator to get a group shot. "Oh wait, can I post this with the caption, 'our last dinner as a group' or will it give away spoilers?"

"Not really because Monica is in it too so either way, it's still the last supper as a group for one of them," Marina answered.

"It's breaking kayfabe though," Cassie pointed out.

"As if that matters now in the social media era," Della snorted. "Main roster women in the middle of a heated feud will get out of the ring and end up on snapchat together before the night is over."

"Look, there's Roman," Tierra said as they walked by the hotel gym. He was in his gym clothes, sweaty and wearing headphones. The windows were see through so they could see him and he could see them. He glanced up briefly from the bicep curl machine but quickly went back in to his workout.

"He's such a babe," Sadie mentioned with a dreamy sigh.

"Guys, are we going to stare at him like some circus freak or are we going to go get these drinks?" Della said.

"I don't know about circus freak but he definitely looks like a freak," Tonya snickered.

 **Joe: Where you going?**

 **Della: Dinner at some restaurant down the street.**

 **Joe: Don't eat**

 **Della: O...k?**

They were seated at a round booth table with a white tablecloth. The waiter brought them their first round of drinks and a menu but Della tossed her menu to the side.

"You're not going to order anything or you already know what you want?" Marina asked, looking at Della over her menu.

"I'm not really hungry," Della replied, hoping her stomach didn't betray her and growl. "You know how I am when I get anxious or nervous. I can't eat, can't sleep."

"You still get nervous after all these years?" Tierra asked.

Della nodded. "Ahead of big matches, yes. I don't care if you've been in this business a hundred years, when your theme hits, your heart drops. Now when the bell rings of course, I snap back to reality and that's only because a nervous worker has to potential to injure themselves or their opponent."

"I can't believe you're leaving us already," Sadie pouted.

"They never planned on keeping her at the Performance Center for that long in the first place. Everyone knew it," Monica said. "This isn't the Mae Young Classic. 'It's" _Operation: get Della over with the audience who aren't familiar with her indie work so she can be sent up ASAP._ '"

"More conspiracy theories, Monica? Never change," Della shook her head.

"Do you really think a spot on the main roster would be the grand prize if you weren't here? Come the fuck on and be honest. It's in your hometown for god sakes. If you weren't booked to win, the winner would've just stood beside their trophy and smiled in a photo-op with Triple H, Stephanie and Sara just like last year," Monica concluded and Della knew she was right and didn't respond.

"Even if that's true, it helped all of us get more exposure and fans," Cassie replied. "I've gain over 10,000 followers since the tournament aired."

"Are you going to miss her, Marina?" Tonya asked.

"Of course, we've been inseparable for years but the show must go on. I'm fine now but it's probably going to hit me her first day on the road," Marina fake sniffed and wiped a nonexistent tear from her eye.

Della was starving as she watched her friends eat but she filled her stomach with alcohol and chewed gum to help distract her hunger pangs. Whatever Joe had planned better be worth it. The others didn't seem to be in a hurry after they finished as they ordered more drinks and sat around laughing and talking.

"Uhm, are y'all going to help close the restaurant down or what?" Della forced a laugh. "I kind of have a match tomorrow night."

"So does Monica and she's not in any hurry," Marina said. "One more round and we can leave."

"Fine," Della sighed, becking for the waiter.

"We have to all go to breakfast tomorrow, too," Sadie suggested.

1 **1:39**

 **Joe: Room 421**

 **Della: Be there in a few.**

 **Joe: Door will be unlocked so you don't have to waste time standing there knocking.**

 **Della: K**

Della threw the covers back and swung her legs out of bed. She looked over at Marina's body in the other bed. She thought the coast was clear to sneak out without explanation until Marina rolled over. Della froze. "You know what, I'm hungry after all."

With an irritated sigh, Marina pushed her covers back. "Really? Just when I finally get settled in almost-sleep."

"You don't have to get up. I can go on my own," Della assured her.

Marina raised a brow. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I got it. It's no big deal. Besides, I'm going to have to do a lot of things on my own now," Della replied.

"That's true," Marina nodded before looking Della up and down. "You're going out like that?"

Della looked down at herself. She was wearing pajama pants, a muscle shirt and fuzzy slippers. She was annoyed that she had to get dressed just to walk down the hall but she didn't want to hear a lecture from Marina if she told her where she was really going. She went back into the bathroom and stepped back into the dress and heels she wore to dinner earlier.

"Alright, be back soon," Della said before closing the door behind her. They were in room 400. She walked until she was in front of 421 and as promised, it was already opened. She pushed it quietly and sneaked in.

Roman stood shirtless wearing sweatpants with his wide back to her, clicking on his phone. His skin looked so smooth and it seemed to glow in the dimly lit room. Slowly she walked up behind him. When she was right behind him she reached her arms around his waist and hugged him. He gently squeezed her arms, repaying her hug. His body was warm and he smelled clean, fresh out of the shower.

"Hi," she said into his back, laughing. "You look so naked without your vest."

"Fans tell me that a lot when they see me on the street but you're not a fan and you've kind of already seen me naked," he turned around to face her and gave her a swift once over.

"But I am a fan," she replied.

"Do you want to eat?"

" _Do you_?" she mumbled under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing," she smiled. "Eat what?"

He turned her around to face the table with what looked to be a buffet of different food.

"When you told me not to eat I was expecting you to at least hit me up at around 8. It's almost midnight. I'm going to be so bloated tomorrow and my new gear shows everything," she groaned. "But I'm hungry so fuck it."

"You don't have to eat everything. I didn't know what you liked so I got options," he replied.

The first taste of pasta made Della moan which caused him to bite his bottom lip. She smirked. "Having flashbacks."

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" He asked, not addressing her comment. "The Raw crowd is much bigger than what you're probably used to down at NXT."

Della scoffed. "No, I haven't wrestled in front of 100 thousand at Wrestlemania like you but I've main evented an all women's show in the Tokyo Dome in front of 55 thousand. The average RAW is 14 to 17 thousand so I think I'll survive."

"Sorry, I keep forgetting about your history," he replied sheepishly with a weak grin. "Are you winning?"

"Where's the fun in that?" she winked.

"Come on?" he pleaded.

"Just like you don't give your wife and daughter spoilers, I don't give my former lovers spoilers," Della asked, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Who are you going to ride with to shows?" he inquired.

"You know what, I haven't thought about that yet. The only folks I'm familiar with on RAW is Sasha who I don't know well enough to tag along with, Elias who probably won't want anything to do with me now and you of course but I definitely can't ride with a married man," Della groaned. "This is why I didn't want to come up so early without Marina."

He smirked. "You just told me the outcome, babe."

"You slick bastard!" she laughed, punching him in his shoulder.

"Ow," he hissed, rubbing the spot and she laughed. "Don't get cocky, once you come up and tour for two weeks straight various parts of your body will be sore too. But, you do hit harder than the average girl...and Ambrose."

"I am a little nervous though. I don't know how the crowd will respond to me. NXT crowds are very smarky so they'll cheer for anyone who isn't a generic babyface so my reception there is no way to judge how I'll be received by the main audience. Also, whenever someone comes up they get a pop for a few weeks and then...crickets, unless they're immediately thrown into an interesting angle."

"You're one of the indy darlings so you won't have that to worry about. Shit, look at Balor. He has no character besides smiling and they still pop for him every time his music hits. Plus if they're bringing you up this early Vince must have plans," he replied.

"Mr. McMahon seems kind of out of touch with what today's audience wants so I'm not going to get too excited about his alleged plans until I hear them," she shrugged.

"When people say ' _today's audience_ ' they mostly mean smarks. Technically, today's audience is children and families since that's who the PG product is marketed towards; they don't really care as long as the storyline is enjoyable. Smarks though, you can go undercover on _their_ forums for intel and create a storyline based on _their own_ thoughts, ideas and fantasy booking and they'll _still_ complain. You're going to learn that fast," he sounded bitter with his response and Della wondered if the boos bothered him more than he lets on. The money they make as wrestlers was great but they had feelings too.

"I already have. When news dropped that I couldn't use the burning hammer anymore my mentions were filled with ' _they're ruining her already_ ' as if that move can't paralyze someone if they don't take it right. I haven't cut many promos but I imagine they'll whine because I can't curse in every sentence like I used to," she said. "You get to say bitch a lot though."

"Because I got it like that," he stated with a cocky smirk.

"Yes you do," Della muttered, looking him up and down, her eyes darting around his strong chest and arms.

He stood and headed to the bar, jerking his head as an indication to follow him. He grabbed a bottle of Jack. "You drinking?"

"I'm still a little drunk from my going away dinner but sure," she replied.

He poured her a drink and then one for himself. That one shot turned into 3. Roman's eyes were glazed by now. "Have you run across your friend yet?"

"The only friends I have here have been with me all day so I don't know who you're talking about," she slurred.

"Your boy, Elias," he teased.

"No and I hope I don't. It'll be awkward. The last time he texted me I didn't text back and he hasn't texted me since. That was 2 months ago," she replied.

"Damn, I guess you're cold to men who aren't me," he chuckled.

"That's the problem," she grumbled.

"What?"

"He's not you."

Roman gave her a hard stare. He leaned down and she stood on her toes and their lips met in a fiery kiss. Something felt so right about the way their lips connected, and she wanted nothing more than to give herself to him. He slid his arms around her back and lifted her up. He pinned her against the wall and she wrapped her legs around him.

Della wrapped her arms around his neck and snatched his bun down an he shook his silky hair free. With that encouragement and increasing lust in her veins, the kiss lengthened and deepened. Her body shuddered in the arms.. She didn't know who wanted who more the way their tongues fought for dominance and she eventually let his tongue win only to suck it.

Roman walked her backwards over to the bed, dropping her down gently. She pulled at him eagerly, bringing him down on top of her and her legs began to spread. She moaned when she felt him hard through his sweatpants rubbing against her panty clad sex. He rolled onto his back, pulling her on top. Della nipped at his lips while one hand reached down and stroked his hard dick through the fabric. She moved her hand up to his waistband to pull them down and release it but his hand covered Della's hand, stopping her.

"This isn't right," Roman shook his head in protest but Della ignored him, licking from his neck to his earlobe and squeezing his dick, causing him to groan. "Delesia, I'm married."

Those words hit home to Della and she glared down at him. He looked overcome with guilt and that annoyed her. "You knew you were married when you invited me down here!"

"I know...I know but I couldn't help it. I only wanted to see what you had going on leading up to tomorrow night," he explained. "I'm sorry. If I was sober I wouldn't have done this to you."

"To me? You didn't do anything I didn't want you to do, Joe. In fact, we met halfway for that kiss," she said. "That impulse, no matter how wrong, was mutual."

He threw his head back on the pillow. "What is it about you?"

"The same thing it is about you," she replied, resting her head on his chest. "Now I don't feel like getting up."

"Then don't," his hands locked behind her back and she responded by tucking her arms underneath him.

He sighed and appeared to be gathering his thoughts. "I love my wife and I love my children and no matter what _this_ is nothing will ever change that. My weakness for lust has nothing to do with my love for them. I just want to get that established. I feel horrible. Hopefully, we aren't put into this position again."

"I understand," she said sincerely before yawning. "Anything else?"

"No, good night, Delesia," he pressed his lips up into her forehead.

"Goodnight, Joe," she stared down at him and couldn't help pressing her lips softly to his. It lingered for a few seconds and she felt his dick twitch beneath her. Do I really have to sleep on top of _it_?"

"Thanks for reminding me it's still there. I was trying to ignore it, babe."

"I'm trying to ignore how wet I am, too. You could've at least fingered me," she grumbled and he laughed. Della dozed off to sleep and being draped over his body was strangely comforting.

She woke the next morning feeling a solid and warm body underneath her and she smiled to herself. His chest rose and fell deeply and he snored lightly. Joe looked so peaceful and her hands itched to move the strands of dark hair that had fallen into his face during the night. If only he were hers. If only. His arms weren't locked behind her back anymore so Della could move without disturbing him.

She creeped to the door and peeked her head out to looked both ways. It was empty with the exception of a maid pushing a cart. She thought the coast was clear until she passed by room 413 and a door opened. It was Elias dressed in a muscle shirt and basketball shorts holding a gym bag.

Elias looked her up and down. "Dress and heels at 8 AM? If I didn't already hear that you didn't mess with wrestlers, I'd say that this was a walk of shame."

"If you knew I didn't mess with wrestlers, why did you try?"

"Not everything is meant to be, but everything is worth a try," he shrugged.

"That's beautiful, which Instagram quote page did you steal that from," she laughed. "Sadie and I had a little too much to drink in her room and I kind of passed out down there."

"Drinking before your big night and not with me? Tsk, tsk, tsk," he shook his head.

Stopping in front of a door, she pulled a key card out of her bra and his eyes locked on her breast. "This is me."

"Good luck tonight...oh wait, I forgot you're this big bad veteran wrestler and you don't need luck," he sarcastically remarked.

"Well, I don't need luck to do what I do but you can send me ' _don't pull a quad_ ' good vibes," she replied.

"Sure thing," he called after her as she entered the room.

Marina's bed was empty but there was a light on under the bathroom door and she heard bumping around in there. Della dreaded having to face her and explain her actions.

The light switched off and the door swung open. Marina was fully dressed. As soon as she spotted Della her eyes narrowed before she rolled them.

"Good morning to you, too," Della said, snidely.

"I didn't know they had open all night food establishments but of course, this is your hometown so you'd know the place better than I would," Marina replied.

That's when Della remembered...this was her hometown. She could twist this in her favor. "Yeah, I went to my parents house."

"Oh really?" Marina tilted her head. When Della saw that movement, she knew Marina wasn't going for that. "I guess your father lost his fancy six figure job and is going through rough times if they don't have a shower or clean clothes at home for you to change into. How did you get in contact with them seeing as you left your phone over there on the charger? I know you didn't take the subway because you left your purse, too. And does your mom, dad or sister use moroccan oil conditioner in their hair like Roman tweeted he does because I smell a whiff of it in the air."

"Okay, you got me," Della sighed in defeat. "We didn't have sex though. We literally slept together. Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened last night. But now that you'll be on RAW, you'll have plenty of nights for nothing to happen...until it finally does. That slow burn and build up is everything, isn't it?"

"I-we. Look, I can't explain it. Please don't be mad at me. If it were you he'd taken up that night instead of me, you'd understand how hard this is."

Marina chuckled bitterly. "Of course he didn't take me up that night. Della's always the choice. Della always get top billing. Della gets creative control of her character. Della gets called up first. Della always gets picked first. I should be lowkey happy that you've finally come in second place, wait, actually you're in fifth place if you count his three children but I'm not happy, I just feel sorry for you."

Marina's words hit Della like a splash of freezing cold water and she sat down on the bed but Marina didn't stop.

"You're sitting on a 12 year career. Is sitting on a married dick worth jeopardizing it. Your career is something to be proud of especially for a woman in this male dominated business. Do you know what a lot of outsiders think? They think the majority of female wrestlers are rats or sluts who sucked and fucked their way to the top. That's not you but if your name gets caught up in some Roman Reigns affair, that's exactly what they'll think. Everything you've worked hard for will be discredited. Is that what you want?"

"No, that's not what I want. You know what else I didn't want? I didn't want to come to this damn company in the first place. I gave you my blessing to go off on this WWE journey alone but of course, we're codependent as fuck so you begged me to sign and I did. What the hell did you think was going to happen? I was going to see him, he was going to see me and we'd pretend like it never happened? In a perfect world, maybe and I wish that could've been the case but as of right now, it is what it is and I'm sorry."

"I regret begging you to sign so much right now," Marina snapped.

"No you don't because you'd have to stand on your own for once in your career like you'll have to do now that I'm leaving!" Della snapped back. "You're the most talented high flyer in the business today. Truth be told, you're a better wrestler than me but you'd rather be best supporting actress instead of best actress. Signing to WWE alone would've been the perfect opportunity to break out as a solo act. This could've been your Mae Young win but no, you dragged me here so damnit, I'm here."

"Little did I know I was dragging you here to receive favoritism and Samoan penis," Marina hissed with anger.

"Please just come out of the closet already because you've been sounding less like my best friend and more like my jealous lover over this Roman shit," Della snarled.

Marina's nostrils flared open with rage. "Bitch, first of all, I'm not a lesbian, not even close. Second, if I were a lesbian I could do so much better than you."

"That's cute," Della laughed. "You just said yourself that Della is always the choice."

"Since we're quoting people back, Monica was right. Your arrogance, cockiness and ego really does make you insufferable and I am so glad I don't have to deal with it on a regular basis anymore!"

The two women stared each other down, daggers shooting from their eyes. Their silence worse than a scratching on a chalkboard. Tensions were high until they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Without speaking a word to Della, Marina grabbed her purse and walked to the door.

"Where's Della?" Sadie's voice was heard.

"She's not hungry again and she's sleeping in to get her rest before we go to the arena," Marina replied, closing the door.

"Who skips their own goodbye breakfast?" Sadie asked.

Della heard her phone buzz and when she grabbed it she saw missed messages.

 **Marina: You've been gone a long time. R u okay?**

 **Marina: D?**

 **Marina: Where tf r u? I'm getting worried.**

 **Marina: Nevermind, I know exactly where u r… -_- Smh.**

* * *

 **Elias: Are you staying in this hotel? If so, I know u don't like to txt back but maybe u can grab a drink wit me.**

 **Elias: I guess not.**

* * *

 **Joe: At least I left u a note before abandoning you…**

 **Della: Sorry, was trying to get out of there ASAP before the other wrestlers started stirring. I hear a lot of footsteps now.**

 **Joe: Smart.**

 **Della: I think I just lost my best friend.**

 **Joe: What happened.**

 **Della: She said some things that were true, I said some things that were true and then we threw bs at each other.**

 **Joe: You two will be hugging it out before the night is over.**

 **Della: I doubt it. We've had petty arguments before but this one felt real. Anyway, I'm going to sleep for an hour and then get a quick workout in before heading to the arena.**

Della felt like shit when she arrived at the arena. Her and Marina hadn't spoken a word to each other since their confrontation earlier. The other girls must've felt the tension too because the vibe between the group was weird.

Monica and the eliminated participants who'd sit front row were shown to a separate locker room but Della was escorted to the RAW women's locker room that she would now be apart of.

The ladies of Raw were cordial and somewhat welcoming, making small talk with her.

"Are you going to the glam squad?" Natalya asked.

"Uhhh," Della hesitated. WWE's glam squad did a great job but sometimes they could be a little heavy handed as if wrestling was a pageant instead of a combative sport. "I think I want to keep it simple tonight."

"The least you could do is let me do your eyeshadow," Nattie replied.

Della smiled, noticing Sasha frantically shaking her head "no!" behind Nattie's back. "See, I would but I sweat a lot and I don't want your hard working looking like a smeared mess by the end of the match. Maybe next time."

"Okay, that's fine. It'll give me a chance to study your face and visualize what I want to do with you," Natty said.

"I'm surprised she didn't whip out the cat pics," Bayley snorted when Natty was out of hearing range.

"A tip," Sasha started. "Avoid any additional time outside of the locker room with Natty unless you want Total Diva cameos because a camera is always rolling on her backstage."

"Noted," Della replied quickly.

After the first two hours went by, Della concluded that being apart of this locker room would be alright. That was further confirmed when Ruby approached her with Liv and Sarah Logan trailing her. "Hey, I know you're new, here at least. We were new a few months ago but we had each other. So if you want, you can ride with us until you find your own clique or a boyfriend to roll with."

"Thank you!"

In the third hour of Raw, Della began to get dressed. Sadie helped her pick out a sleeveless hot pink keyhole spandex halter top that ended under breast and the built in padding made her boobs sit up like implants. The matching trunks revealed half of her ass. She was having second thoughts about going out there like this but she didn't pack backup attire.

She walked out of the locker room during the main event featuring Roman. The other Mae Young participants were already heading out through the crowd to take front row seats for the finals. Sadie gave her a thumbs up when she saw her but Marina grimaced and shook her head upon sight of Della's gear.

The main event ended with a Roman victory and she moved into gorilla. Some of the crowd began filing out which worried her. Crew members rushed out to the ring to change the red ropes of Raw to white ropes and the LED ring skirt now read MYC. It officially felt like a big deal.

Roman ducked back through the curtain. He winked but she had no reaction as she was getting into her zone and mentally preparing herself for what was about to take place.

Taping of the show started and the camera flashed the front row showing the fallen competitors. Sadie received boos when the camera made it to her and she yelled ,"they love me, they're just in denial."

Then a video package with highlights of the tournament played. She heard bits and pieces of audio from the sit down interview with Stephanie.

"Are you listening to me?" Monica asked from behind.

"Huh?" Della shook herself back to reality.

"I said I'm going to attempt to back elbow you, you're going to duck, I'm going to grab you from behind into my Uranage for you to kick out of for drama and then you can set up your finisher," Monica explained. "Any spots you want to go over?"

"I want to whip out the burning hammer again tonight," Della replied.

"Uhm, did you run that by Triple H? We all know what happened last time you used a move you had no business using," Monica snorted.

Della grimaced. "Yeah, you're right about that."

"There he is…" Monica pointed out.

"Hey, Triple H," she called. "Since I've used it on her plenty of times over the years and she didn't break her neck, can I use the burning hammer tonight?"

"You can use whatever you want to use on each other, do what you want to do to each other as long as neither of you die or pull anything out of Benoit's playbook again…" he stated, giving them his blessing.

"This is going to be epic as long as we work together. The follow up match after the 5 star match was horrible because we...and by we I mean you, didn't work with me," Della remarked.

Monica rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's just forget that match happened and consider this our follow up match."

"Deal," Della nodded.

Monica reached out her hand. "You know the drill."

Della put her hand in Monica's and Monica began to pray. Even though she was mean as hell, she was weirdly religious. Maybe she wasn't religious but she prayed before every match.

Monica started off mumbling to herself but got louder toward the end. "...protect us as we put our bodies on the line to do what we love and give Della strength as she embarks on her new journey. In these words I pray, Amen."

"Amen," Della repeated.

Jojo came into camera view as she announced. "Ladies and gentlemen, this match is set for one fall and the winner will receive a Raw contract."

Monica's theme played and she went through the curtain. Della couldn't hear much of a reaction and Della wondered if even more fans left.

Her worry was short lived once her theme hit. The pop she received was loud and it became deafening when she stepped through the curtain.

"Making her way to the ring from Chicago, Illinois, Della Stone!" The mention of Chicago made the place louder and she didn't think that was possible. Marina used to tease her all the time about her hometown. ' _Of course the smark's queen hails from the smarkiest wrestling city in America. The only wrestler they love more than you is Punk_.'

She entered the ring and the first group who caught her eye was her family. Her mom, her dad and her fraternal twin sister, Denesia holding a ' _Chicago born, Chicago raised, Chicago's own, D. Stone'_ sign. Then her eyes fell on the trainers from her first wrestling school holding a ' _We want a finder's fee, Vince_ ' sign.

Della had to remind herself that her character wasn't one to cry because she was almost overcome with emotion until her eyes found Marina glaring at her. Her theme faded out and she climbed down from the turnbuckle to face Monica. They slowly met in the center of the ring until they were face to face, menacing each other.

The bell rung and "Della" chants rang out in the arena. There was no lock up, the match started with them throwing punches and the crowd loved it. After the interview they had, this match wasn't going to be pretty and it definitely wasn't going to be flashy. It was going to be a fight.

The crowd booed anytime Monica got the advantage like now when she killed Della with forearms to the face and a hard kick to the back. Monica used a Boston Crab submission but Della wiggled her way to the bottom rope and the ref forced a break. Monica then went to the top rope but Della kicked her off the top rope and onto the floor. When Monica stood wobbly back to her feet, Della slid out of the ring and clotheslined her over the barricade. Quickly, Della ran back to the ring, climbing onto the top turnbuckle, she did the sign of the cross gesture across her forehead and chest before jumping flinging herself into a moonsault from the top rope all the way over the barricade. Monica stood to take the move and they both fell to the hard floor. That garnered a massive "holy shit" chant from the crowd.

"I thought I told you to stop doing risky shit like that!" Della's Mom yelled at her as she dragged Monica back across the barricade by the hair.

"Leave her alone, she's having fun," her Dad replied.

"Fun? Are you going to have fun waiting on her hand and foot when she paralyzes herself," her Mom shot back and Della prayed the cameras didn't pick up that exchange.

Back in the ring, Della went for a belly to back suplex but Monica landed on her feet and hit a follow-up hurricanrana. Della scrambled to the corner, Monica charged but Della met her with a big boot to the face.

They fought over a suplex, Della going behind Monica with a failed attempt, Monica going behind Della for a failed attempt but the suplex war was eventually won by Della. Della went back to the top rope for a crossbody but Monica dropkicked her in mid-air. They both landed in the center of the ring.

"This is awesome!" the crowd chanted.

Monica got to her feet first and stomped Della's head to a chorus of boos as the ref pulled her away.

Della stood and walked over to where Monica and the ref were arguing. She shook her head at him. "Ref, I can handle myself and take any of those weak ass shots she throws at me."

"Is that right?" Monica asked. She started throwing a round of stiff forearms at Della. Della took them without selling before throwing one hard punch that made Monica's head spin like the girl from the Exorcist.

"5 minutes left," the ref whispered discreetly which told them that they needed to bring the match to a close and begin their finishing sequence.

Monica came off the second rope with a flying knee but Della rolled through the strike and stood up smiling. Both women got the idea to do a running knee but they collide in the center of the ring. They laid out on the mat and if she were an audience member, she would think this was anyone's match. Not able to stand, they both sat up on their knees, exchanging weak punches and forearm strikes. Monica winked, her way of telling Della that the time was now. They both slowly stood to their feet.

This was it, her moment. In approximately two minutes she'd be a member of the RAW roster. She looked into the crowd and her eyes found Marina who stared back at her emotionless. Della couldn't look away. It was if the entire arena went black and there was a spotlight on only Marina, the noise and chanting from the crowd muted. The way they left this morning, once she went on the road, she didn't see things improving. 8 years of friendship, gone, over a man, a married man at that. Marina must've been thinking the same because Della saw her turn her head and wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve.

Della knew what she had to do when she saw Monica coming around with what was supposed to be an attempted back elbow. She didn't duck like Monica requested before the match. It hit her straight on in her brow area. The pain was severe and it took all her willpower not to fall down to the mat. She felt warm liquid flow freely and spill into her eye, causing her to shut it. With her open eye, she could see red painting the canvas below her.

"Oh shit," Monica said quietly.

The crowd gasped. It was rare to see blood in men's WWE matches nowadays, let alone in a women's match.

The ref went into his pocket and snapped on latex gloves.

"Keep going," Della instructed.

Monica went for her Uranage and the ref went down to the canvas to count it. 1-2. He hesitated, knowing the script. He was eye level to them with his hand raised off the mat, probably wondering why Della wasn't breaking the count. After another second he had no other choice but to bring his hand down -3 and the bell rang.

Monica's music didn't immediately play like the winner's usually does. Everyone in the audience, especially the girls from NXT looked confused. The place was silent, a big contrast to the sound less than 5 minutes ago. Della looked over at the commentary booth, they were quiet, probably because their notes had talking points to read after Della won.

"What the fuck?" Monica whispered.

She looked over again and saw her father who appeared to be restraining her mom from jumping over the barricade to tend to her.

The medical team surrounded Della in the ring but she refused to let them touch her. She opted to cover the bloody wound with her palm and the pain was slowly receding.

After a few more tense moments and some instructions from the back, Monica's theme finally hit and Jojo stood. "The winner of this tournament and the newest member of RAW, Monica!"

That announcement was booed out the building. "Bullshit" chants started on one side of the arena and "We want Della" chants on the other.

Triple H's theme played and he walked out carrying flowers followed by Stephanie and Sara. They all looked confused but they had to push through. He raised Monica's arms while Stephanie and Sara clapped and congratulated her. Then Kurt Angle's theme followed as he walked down to the ring with a contract that Monica signed.

That's when Della made her way to the back with Stephanie walking behind her to make sure that she was okay.

As soon as she slid through the curtain, Della plopped down in the first chair she spotted. Two male EMTs approached her with a first aid kit. She felt fine with the exception of throbbing. She hissed when he rubbed some kind of clear, gel like substance into the cut. "That's a nasty one. Any lower and you'd probably be investing in a lifetime supply of eye patches right now."

"Let's make sure she isn't concussed," the other guy said. He took a small flashlight out of his first aid kid and flashed it in her eyes and told her to stare at a spot on the ceiling. When that was over, the questioning began. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Della saw 2. She knew she wasn't concussed but in order to not get fired over this, she had to at least pretend to be out of it. "3."

"What's your name?"

"Della...I think?"

"I don't think she has a concussion but she is definitely a little woozy," he assessed.

"Goddamnit, what the hell was that?" Mr. McMahon's voice yelled long before he came into view.

"I forgot to duck the back elbow so I took the full impact of the blow. I blacked out when I saw the blood dripping down and I couldn't move. Next thing I know, I hear Monica's theme," Della lied.

By that time Monica had made it to gorilla. She was quiet with her eyes to the floor. Della knew she knew what she'd just said was bullshit but Monica didn't say anything.

"I didn't think you could possibly fuck up worse than showing off your tit jewelry, your weed shirt and making Benoit relevant again but you sure showed me," Mr. McMahan scolded her. "After all I did to give you this moment. I made the prize a spot on RAW, I booked you strong, I made sure the finals fell in your hometown. And you just pissed it away!"

"Leave her alone, Dad. It's not like she did it on purpose. Did you see that blood? It's a miracle she walked to the back on her own instead of being wheeled out on a stretcher!" Stephanie defended.

"How the hell are we going to spin this," Mr. McMahon asked aloud. "Next Monday, Monica comes out to do an in ring interview with Renee about being the newest member of Raw, the ref from tonight interrupts stating that orders to stop the match due to Della's blood loss were being sent out just as he was counting the three. Della comes out, demands a rematch, ref agrees. Boom."

"Then it's going to be obvious that Della is your new golden girl and the crowd will slowly start rejecting her when she starts running through the entire division. Do you really want a female Roman Reigns? I think not especially if you want her to be the future face of the division," Stephanie said.

Mr. McMahon thought it over for a second before shaking Monica's hand. "Welcome to Raw."

Della went to the Raw locker room to gather her things. A lot of the girls were gone but the few that remained were just as shocked as everyone else. "We all thought…"

"Plans change," Della shrugged, grabbing her bag. She didn't bother showering or changing clothes. With dried blood across her face, she looked like a horror movie extra.

The backstage area was quiet, empty and depressing which matched her mood.

"I guess you took me saying you don't put anyone over to heart," Monica walked up alongside her. "All I want to know is why. Now that I'm going to be taking the spot, I shouldn't care but for you to throw the match like that, there has to be a reason."

"I don't know, I just wasn't ready to move up," Della replied.

"You decided you weren't ready during the finishing sequence? Come with something better than that," Monica said. "Is it because of Roman?"

"W-what?!" Della gasped in panic. Her eyes widened thinking about the danger Monica knowing her secret could bring. "How did you know?"

"I didn't know until you just confirmed it but I had a feeling something sneaky was going on between you two. In that boutique down in New Orleans, I walked in the dressing and heard a male and female voice whispering. You were the only female who went to the back and he was the only male in the entire store. I walked out and came back later and that's when I ran into you two. When I introduced myself the next day I made sure to throw that in just to see if he'd react and he did. Also, my hotel room was next to his last night and I heard your voice around midnight," Monica revealed.

"Are you going to say anything?"

"Do I look like a chatty patty like you the rest of you bitches in your private group chat?" Monica asked and Della looked taken aback. "Yes, I know about that too. As far as your secret, I could've said something a long time ago about it if I really wanted to but I didn't want your career and reputation trashed before we got our second 5 star match."

"I think we might've achieved that tonight," Della replied.

"Nah, it was great and the crowd was hot but I didn't feel the same way I did after the 5 star. Plus Meltzer may take off for that ending. If you haven't pissed Vince off to the point of future endeavoring you, I suppose we'll meet again in the future," Monica said. "The dirt sheets are going to have a field day with this in the morning and your fans are going to have my mentions in shambles. It doesn't take an inside source to see that the match was not supposed to end that way."

"Yeah, just stay off social media for the next two years because my fans will never let this moment go," Della laughed, extending her hand and Monica shook it. "Until we meet again my same day signing sister."

Della took her phone out and added Monica to the group chat and Monica immediately left the group.

"Sorry, I just can't bore myself with you bitches now that I'm moving on and up," Monica said.

"Never change," Della shook her head, chuckling.

"I have to get my bags out of the locker room. Make sure the van doesn't leave without me," Monica replied, making a u-turn down the hall.

Della spotted a body standing underneath the exit sign. When she was close enough she identified the person as Marina. As their eyes met they simultaneously broke into tears. They ran to each other, meeting halfway, hugging as tightly as they could. All that was missing was "...and iiiiiiiieiiiiiiiii will always love you" playing in the background. Guess Joe was right after all about them hugging it out before the night was over.

"I'm sorry," Della sniffed.

"I'm sorrier," Marina sniffed back. "Yes you're arrogant, cocky and you definitely have a big ego but I love it and I love you."

"I love you too."

"Give me one good reason why you did that!" Marina took a step back.

"I'll give you two. One, I couldn't leave on such a bad note. Two, I wanted you to know that our friendship meant so much more to me than married dick or a spot on Raw," Della answered. "You'd done the same for me."

Marina flashed a playful expression. "You sure about that?"

"We're codependent as fuck! You're damn right I'm sure," Della said confidently.

"Yeah, I don't think I would've risked losing an eye in the process but I would've found some way to get out of the match. Maybe faked a pregnancy, I don't know," she chuckled. "You look like a Diva from the Playboy era in that outfit by the way."

"Sadie picked it out if you can't already tell. It's not me at all. Back to the good ole T-shirts," Della agreed.

The night air in the parking garage was filled with heat as they found their van.

Sadie stuck her head out of the window. "Does this mean you're staying in NXT?"

"Until Mr. McMahon finds another way to get me back up here, yes," Della confirmed.

"Cool, let's go get drunk and celebrate."

"We have to wait for Monica first."

Marina ducked off into the van first and Della had one foot in before she saw a black BMW slowly approaching. "You know what? I'll see you guys in Orlando."

* * *

Della's Mom fussed at her the entire ride home. Della smiled, looking out of the car window at the Chicago lights as she remembered hearing this same exact rant ten years ago when she was sixteen, getting picked up after local shows.

Her family home looked no different than it did when she visited for Christmas. As always she cringed at her overly made up gigantic childhood beauty pageant portraits posted above the fireplace while her wrestling pictures got the 5 by 7 treatment in the corner.

She played with her niece for awhile and wondered how different her life would've been if she'd followed her sister's path and gone to college. Would she be married with kids by now also?

"So what's the tea?" Della asked her sister as she laid down in her childhood bed.

"You go first. I'm sure whatever you have to say is far more exciting than my mundane life," Denesia replied. "Fuck it, I'll go first. Mike is having an affair and I'm filing for divorce."

"Denesia, I'm so sorry," Della sat up.

"Don't be. I've been tired of him for years. He just gave me a way out when I caught him having dinner with that whore."

"Oh, I don't feel right sharing what I have to say now."

"What is it?"

Della sighed, not sure how to take it. "I slept with an engaged man and now he's married and I almost slept with him again last night."

"Who is he?"

"Roman Reigns," she mumbled.

"Whore!"

"I know," Della dropped her head. "I feel bad."

"No, bitch, that was a whore of encouragement," Denesia clarifies. "It's crazy because when I saw him live during RAW, I was like _'he is so sexy, I wish he was single so Delesia could have him or at least hook me up.'_ I can't believe you never told me about this! I bet that bitch knew."

"That bitch, though," Della laughed. "But yes, she knows and only because she was there."

"Speaking of which, I heard that little podcast you did where you said she was closer to you than me, your actual sister..."

Della rolled her eyes, sighing. "How many times do we have to go over this? The wrestling business blurs the lines between scripted and reality. You have to make people buy into your character and anything surrounding it. Sometimes we lie and exaggerate to do it. At that moment I was selling a strong friendship between Marina and I. It was easy to say _'yeah she's my bestie, blah, blah, blah_ ' but I took it up a notch to drive the point home which I why I said that."

"Ah, okay," she nodded. "Do you love him?"

"Love him? No, not even close because I don't know anything about him besides he's good in bed. Lust him? Yes."

"Good in bed you say? We're fraternal but I think we look enough alike in dim lighting for us to pull a twin magic on him so I can see for myself,"

"Did you just say twin magic? We are not the Bellas! Plus he's aware of my nipple piercings."

J **oe: What happened? I thought I were winning. Come to my room.**

 **Della: Can't.**

 **Joe: You must be around ppl?**

 **Della: Nope.**

Her phone's FaceTime tone rung.

"Who is Joe?" Denesia asked.

"That's him," Della replied, answering it.

He raised a brow as he stared at the screen. Della noticed that her Hello Kitty pillow cases were visible under head. "Where are you?"

"Home," she answered simply.

"Wow, of course you're from Chicago. That explains the ' _If Della loses, we riot_ ,' signs," he smirked. "And you didn't bleed more than me against Lesnar but you were damn close."

"Yeah…"

"Did you need stitches?"

"No, wasn't that deep."

"There was a girl who looked just like you but less muscular in the crowd tonight. I'm going to assume that was your sister?"

"Yep."

"Hi!" Denesia stretches her neck into view and Roman froze.

"Calm down, it's my sister, not some random fan off the street," Della replied.

"Oh, what's up," he spoke but he still looked uncomfortable with Denesia staring at him so Della moved the phone a few inches to the right and he seemed to relax. "I knew you could go in the ring but tonight you were incredible."

"Thanks," she replied.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked as a result of her being short with him.

She was going to ask Denesia for a minute alone but this wasn't Marina and Denesia would actually give her moral support when this conversation was over. "We did something wrong and I think we acknowledge that after it happened but this morning when I got back to my room I felt like shit. I was supposed to win that match tonight."

"I know, that's why I asked you to come to my room so I could find out what the hell happened. When I was in gorilla before my match a RAW contract with your name printed on it was laying on one of the tables. What happened?"

"I stayed down."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I was going to lose my best friend."

"Let me get this straight, you went into business for yourself and threw a match over an argument that probably wasn't about anything of importance?" he said in disbelief.

"It was about you."

"Me? Why?"

"Come on, Joe, you know why. We're attracted to each other. Not only that but we know what each other are like intimately. It's not safe for us to be alone. I want to fuck you again so bad and I know you feel the same. We were this close last night," she explained. "It wouldn't have gotten any easier to fight it especially if we were going to be traveling on the same brand; you'd be around me more than you'd be home. Do you understand how dangerous that could've been? I did my career, you, your wife and your children a favor tonight. I know you actually love them despite _this_. Trust me, a man who didn't give a fuck would've given me a fuck last night."

He dropped his head momentarily. "You're absolutely right. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. Whatever we were headed towards would've only ended up hurting you in the long run. It would've had no future."

"And even though I know all of that that, I still feel attracted to you. See? Dangerous," a sad smile crossed her face.

"I see," he muttered, nodding in acceptance. "Well, I guess I'll see you around...Della."

"You too...Roman."

* * *

 **I'll be back in a few weeks. Bye. And no, that's not the end of Della x Roman ;-)**


	5. Chapter 5

**So yeah, back in business...**

* * *

Cassie ripped Lacey Evan's top exposing her bra then hiked her trunks up her butt until they resembled a thong. Cassie forcefully walked her around the ring. The action was met with mostly boos but there was a small section of men who whistled and cheered which gave Cassie an opportunity to cut a promo. "Do you hear that? Do you feel like a piece of meat? Now you know how I felt down at FCW when the only time we got in the ring was for bikini contests and dance offs! These fanboys only pretend to have respect for the women's division now but in reality they are still picking favorites based on how hot they find them. And they mask it by talking about in-ring ability and overness instead of your looks."

Sadie's entrance was still awesome but her ring work against Aliyah left much to be desired. It was botch after botch and Sadie seemed tired after the five minute mark. The crowd booed and chanted 'you can't wrestle' but Sadie looked too broken mentally to retaliate with taunts or smart remarks. The only thing that looked good was her powerbomb and her finisher, Sweet Chin Music that she called "6 Inch Heels."

After a men's match, Shayna went out and issued an open challenge now that she'd defeated Nikki Cross at the last Takeover.

Della was shocked when she heard Marina's theme.

"The best that could be sent out here to stand in the ring with me is an acrobat?" Shayna asked.

"If I'm an acrobat, I'm an acrobat with a legitimate wrestling career that I worked my ass off to have. You on the other hand wouldn't be standing in a WWE ring period if you weren't a Ronda Rousey coattail rider," a round of oooo from the audience caused Shayna to punch Marina. Because Shayna was a legit MMA fighter, Marina had to sell it like death the way she fell face forward on the canvas. It took her awhile to get up but when she did she came back with a erinaze that made Shayna fall this time.

Marina grabbed a mic. "Yeah Shayna, it's obvious you can beat me in a fight but this isn't the UFC. I want to have a wrestling match right here, right now."

William Regal came out holding a mic. "And wrestling match you shall receive. Let's make it official. If Marina pins Shayna, she'll receive a title shot next week!"

The bell rung. Marina took Shayna to school when it came to wrestling but every now and then Shayna would throw in her stiff MMA style offense that overpowered Marina. In the end, Marina won with a surprise roll up. She immediately rolled out of the ring to avoid Shayna's wrath.

Della found herself knocking on Triple H's office door.

"Come in," he prompted. When she entered he was sitting behind his desk watching the flat screen tv mounted on the wall.

"I thought you said I didn't have heat," she said.

"You don't," he replied.

"I was a finalist in the Mae Young Classic, secretly the winner and I haven't been seen since. Marina, Cassie and Sadie have all made their NXT TV debut, have ongoing storylines and feuds, meanwhile I'm backstage watching the monitors. I can't even get booked in a match at weekend live events yet green Tierra and Tonya are working those," she pointed out.

"It's like this, Della, opportunities like the one you had do not come around too often. You missed that one and now you have to wait until the next one presents itself," he explained. Della knew she frustrated a lot of higher up's when she took the pin that night. She knew they were punishing her. At one point she thought about quitting but didn't want to end up like Neville who quit months ago but can't go back to the independent scene because WWE is holding him hostage until his contract expired. H continued, "Because we tape NXT episodes weeks in advance, storylines for Marina, Cassie, Sadie and even Monica were already written during the Mae Young Classic. You were supposed to be on RAW therefore writing anything for you down here wasn't our concern. Now that you're here, we weren't just going to drop all the plans we made for the division moving forward."

Della looked up at the screen to see Marina smiling at Shayna from the end of the ramp. That's when she realized that she didn't always have to be the star or have the spotlight. "I guess that's only fair. I just hope I don't develop ring rust while I wait."

Marina came out of the shower area with a towel wrapped around her head.

"I think congratulations are in order," Della exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Congratulations for what? _Having_ a title shot because you know I'm not winning," Marina stated. "And I didn't tell you because I didn't know myself until H shoved me into gorilla when the open challenge segment started."

"If you didn't know you were having the shot, you also won't know whether you'll win or not until the last minute," Della shrugged.

"Yes I do. It might've been a possibility if the other two horsewoman didn't show up down here for training. One of those bitches have my name. I want to go by my real name Marianna now," Marina scoffed. MMA's four horsewomen were made up of Ronda, Shayna, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. "Shayna isn't going anywhere until they get ready to build that Horsewoman vs Horsewoman feud."

"If that shit main events! I don't mind a potential Ronda vs Charlotte main event because at the end of the day that's the Ronda Rousey but bringing in 3 irrelevants to steal that opportunity from other WWE women who deserve it is bullshit," Della shook her head. "It has the potential to be good if they can progress like Ronda but it still isn't fair. And I hope it has a decent build instead of it being WWE just trying to jump on the inclusive train like 'hey, we threw some women in the main event now you can leave us alone about it. Hashtag making history.'"

"If we just had to have a four horsewoman main event it should've been Sasha vs Bayley vs Becky vs Charlotte in a fatal four way. I saw you coming out of H's office. What did he say?"

Della waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "A bunch of nothing. I know how we feel about dirt sheets and their bullshit but I'm starting to believe the report about them regretting signing me because they now see I'll be nothing but trouble,"

"I'm pretty sure they _knew you were trouble when you walked in_ ," Marina sung to the tune of Taylor Swift's trouble. "At one point in your career you were just being offensive to be offensive like the Benoit stuff and that's well documented so they knew exactly who they were signing. I don't believe you're being punished, though. It's only been a few weeks since the finals, not months. On the new NXT poster featuring the women's division, they have you front and center, even in front of Shayna so you're still being promoted like a star and management gave you WWE talking points to plug during your Maxim cover shoot last week. I think they're just waiting on the right storyline before they bring you in."

"There's a difference between promoting me and pimping me out for publicity. Whether they push me or not, I'm still signed so any outside work I do is going to have 'WWE Star' in front of my name now which benefits them. I hope you're right though because I could be traveling the world to wrestle who I want, when I want without having everything I do, say or wear micromanaged," Della's voice rose. A few agents were standing around but she didn't care who heard her. "I'm not even looking to be inserted into the title picture right away. Just give me a match, any match, hell I'll job at this point."

"Some people can't go without sex or the drug of their choice for an extended period of time, others can't go without wrestling," Marina chuckled.

"Wrestling _is_ the drug of my choice," Della sighed, grabbing her heavy duffel bag full of ring gear. "I don't know why I still bring this thing."

* * *

"People are back talking shit about me. They're saying I got exposed now that I'm not in the ring with D," Sadie pouted. "I'm ready to silence them again."

"Of course you got exposed but it's not your fault. This is what happens when you throw someone who isn't ready into the fire," Marina replied, stretching in the practice ring.

"Yep, and in order to silence them again we have to train you, the right way," Della added.

"The right way?"

"Yes, you never learned the basics and fundamentals of wrestling because Vince wanted you fast tracked into a debut. We have to increase your strength training and stamina which is why you were gassed after the first five minutes," Della instructed.

For the next two hours the girls put Sadie through wrestling boot-camp hell. Every inch of her body was covered in sweat, her face was red, she inhaled and exhaled explosively gasping for air. "And I have to do this everyday until I get stronger?"

Marina's eyes widened when Sadie clutched her stomach. "Get the bucket!"

"Here it comes," Della turned her head and grimaced.

"Help...it's...getting...into...my...hair," Sadie cried in between coughs.

"Your hair should've been tied back anyway but you wanted to be cute," Della said, pulling blonde stands back.

"That's something Monica would've said," Marina chuckled, passing Sadie a bottle of water.

"Speaking of Monica, anybody heard from her since she's been on the road?" Della inquired.

It was no surprise to Della that Raw creative had no idea what to do with Monica. For now they seemed to be building her up. She squashed Dana Brooke and Liv Morgan the next week. She had a good one on one with Ruby that ended in disqualification when the Riott Squad jumped in. The fans hated her. Della found that it paralleled Roman's victory in the Royal Rumble over smark's favorite Daniel Bryan. She felt bad knowing that she put Monica in that position.

"According to the schedule, Raw has a house show here in Orlando Sunday and RAW will be in Tampa Monday. We can check on her then," Marina replied.

* * *

Backstage at the house show, the atmosphere seemed more relaxed than Raw and PPV shows. Triple H and Mr. McMahon were absent so that had a lot to do with it. The only real authority figures present were the road agents and veteran wrestlers.

Della made sure to speak to and shake hands with everyone she crossed paths with. She even met Ronda.

"What do you think?" Nattie asked, turning Della's chair to face the mirror.

The makeup wasn't bad, just heavier than what she was used to. "I like it."

"Really?" Nattie asked enthusiastically. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Della nodded.

"Do you really like it?" Sadie asked when Nattie was out of hearing range.

"It's nice...for like a photo shoot. It's nothing I'd walk around with."

"Looks like you have to now or you'll hurt her feelings," Marina snickered.

"Not necessarily," Sadie grabbed some tissues. She wet it with a bottle of water and began dabbing the tissue across Della's face. It looked the same but toned down. "I doubt she'll notice the difference."

"You might want to dab back on a few layers of eyeshadow just to make sure," Sasha suggested as she got her purple hair curled a few chairs over.

On her way to catering, Della finally ran into him. Awkwardly, their hands reached out at the same time to shake. This time there was no secret smirk, no insider squeeze of her hand or knowing look in his eyes. He looked at her like he would any other person. This was Roman Reigns. The Joe that she knew was officially gone.

Monica never was one to have too many female friends so Della wasn't shocked when she spotted her at a table full of guys. Monica frowned when she looked up and saw them across the room but Della could tell that she was happy to see them as Monica dismissed herself from the guys and made her way over.

They pulled her in for an awkward group hug of sorts that didn't last five seconds before Monica pushed them away. "This is embarrassing."

"So, what am I missing?" Della asked.

"A lot of long flights and sleepless nights," Monica answered.

"Sorry about the fans. It's kind of my fault," Della said apologetically.

"Do you really think I care about that?" Monica scoffed. "That main roster pay increase means way more to me than butt hurt fanboys and their organized booing."

"Hooked up with anybody yet?" Sadie asked.

"Learned how to wrestle without Della standing across from you in the ring yet?" Monica shot back.

"Working on it," Sadie replied.

"And speaking of that," Monica started. "I haven't seen you standing in the ring period since the finals, Della. I thought for sure they'd immediately put the title on you as a consolation prize for having to stay down there."

"I think my _alleged_ preferential booking days are over," Della grumbled.

Monica sucked her teeth. "You know that's not true. They just want to knock you off of your high horse to show you that you can be put on the back burner just like everyone else. That way you won't get out of line again when they decide to start your push. A humbling of sorts. You've fucked up a lot since you've been signed so now they're going to make you 'play the game' which means learning to say yes to everything you're told to do and appropriately kiss management's ass."

Out of all the theories, Monica's made the most sense. If Della was honest with herself she deserved a good humbling. Everyday at the performance center she noticed how happy the other indie girls were to finally be there. Some used to be homeless, some had to work two or three day jobs just to make ends meet. They wouldn't dare do the things she's done in her time there. They'd be too afraid of being fired or catch heat. If Della left or got fired, there was a spot waiting for her in whatever promotion she wanted. But for most women who weren't big names there was no real alternative. The money just wasn't there for women in the independent scene like there was for the men.

"For once I think you're right, Monica," Della responded.

As always, when the show started Della parked herself in front of a monitor. Roman didn't get much booing. In fact, he received the loudest pop of the night. She guessed most asshole smarks only attended televised shows to hijack.

"Some guy invited us to a bar down the street where some other superstars will be tonight," Sadie said.

Marina clicked her phone. "It's only 9:30, I guess we can drop by for a few drinks."

"Cool," Della replied. When she looked up Roman was walking by rolling his suitcase. He didn't even look at her. It hurt a little but that's the way things had to be now.

The bar was nearly empty except for the WWE crew. She wondered if the owners closed it to the public. It was ring crew, a few refs, mostly midcard men, Dana Brooke, Mickie James and the Riott Squad. Della didn't expect to see Sasha or Bayley or people higher up the card. Alot of them lived in Orlando and probably opted to go spend a night in their own bed. She was sure Roman went home to be with his wife and children.

Someone suggested a round of truth or dare. Della saw a lot of x-rated dares and heard too much information truths. She was quiet until the game made it around to her.

"Della, is there anyone on the RAW roster that you would hook up with?" Dolph asked.

"Yes," Della answered.

"Who?"

Della waved her finger in the negative. "One question per truth."

"Truth or dare…." he asked again.

"Dare," she replied.

"I dare you to tell me who you'd hook up with."

"That's not how this works," Della laughed, taking a sip of her drink.

She saw Elias whisper something in Dolph's ear. "I dare you to walk with Elias...to the dance floor."

"Oh God," Della sighed, sliding off the stool. "You could've just asked me to dance instead of wasting a perfectly good dare opportunity."

"Why? So you could've turned your nose up at me, said no and then talked shit about me to Marina?"

"Ah, you know me so well," she said, draping her arms around his neck. His shoulders were solid as hell. She didn't recognize the song. It sounded like Adam Levine of Maroon 5's nasally voice and it said something about _girl's like you._ His hands clamped around her hips but she moved them up to her waist. "Watch it."

They danced for a few more songs and Della didn't realize she was twerking on him during the breakdown of Drake's _Nice For What_ until she felt a bulge poking against her butt. She was glad no fans were around to film it. She straightened herself up and faced him. "Sorry about that?"

"Sorry?! For what?" he chuckled, adjusting his pants to hide his erection.

"My heels hurt so that's my cue to leave," Della released an exhausted breath.

"I'll walk you out," he replied, following her. "Still no chance?"

"No, not really but, you're closer than you were yesterday...which isn't saying much," Della laughed.

"Couldn't leave that last part out huh?"

"Nope," she said, clicking her car's remote. It lit up on the left side. He did the same and his lit up on the right. "See you around."

* * *

They as well as other NXT talent made the two hour drive from Orlando to Tampa for Raw the next day. Della noticed right away the looks she received from male talent. There were a lot of smirks and once overs. She wondered what that was about. She wasn't dressed provocatively in her jeans and shoes.

Roman glared at her before turning his head in the opposite direction. Something was definitely up.

"Decided to keep the shadow thick today in honor of Nat. Think she'll approve?" Della asked Sasha in passing but Sasha didn't respond.

"Maybe she didn't hear you. It's Raw, she's probably just in her zone and focused," Marina shrugged.

Natalya came down the hall soon after and Della greeted her. "Hey Nattie."

"Hi," Nattie's voice sounded dry like she didn't want to be bothered.

"What the hell?!" Della looked around in confusion.

"Maybe Sasha told her about what we did to the makeup," Sadie said.

"That can't be right because when I was here for the Mae Young finals, Sasha is the one who initially told me not to let Nattie do my makeup and then yesterday she made the comment about the eyeshadow," Della replied.

Sadie shrugged. "Maybe Sasha is a fake bitch and told anyway."

"That could be possible but I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Let's go find Monica."

Della didn't stop until she was in front of the sign that read 'Raw Female Talent'. She knocked and Alexa came to the door.

"Can I help you?"

"Is Monica in there?" Della took a step forward and Alexa closed the door slightly.

"This room is for main roster women only but I'll tell her you're out here," Alexa smiled, slamming the door in Della's face.

"She better be lucky this isn't an indie show!" Della said through her teeth.

"I'm so confused. Della, what did you do?" Marina asked.

"Nothing!" Della yelled out in exasperation. "That's the problem. I was going to say she's still tight over the 5 foot nothing blonde comment but I doubt the entire division is mad at that. Hell, they probably feel the same."

It took Monica a while to come to the door and Della began wondering if Alexa told her. "If I have to knock on this door again I swear to god I'm dragging that little bitch out here by those pink strands. What can management do? Fire me? I'm not wrestling anyway so what do I have to lose?"

Apparently her threat was heard because Monica rushed out in a robe tied around her. She had an amused look on her face. "The awkward moment when you aren't at the top of the mountain and don't run shit anymore. You look unhinged. How does it feel?"

Della rolled her eyes. "Cut the shit and tell me what's going on."

"Fine, fine," Monica threw her hands up. "About last night. Word is going around that you and Elias hooked up and apparently it's not a good look to start running through wrestlers before even hitting the main roster. One of the unwritten diva rules."

"Excuse me,what? I did not hook up with Elias," Della stared at Monica in disbelief. "As soon as we hit the door we went our separate ways. Did he say that?"

Monica shrugged. "I don't know if he said it or not but it's going around and the other girls aren't taking too kindly to it. I tried to tell them that I've known you for a long time and you aren't like that but of course they're going to form their own opinion regardless."

"Clearly! Thanks anyway," Della was distraught as she walked away. Her hands were shaking as she found his name in her phone and pressed it. It went straight to voicemail. "This motherfucker!"

Sadie put a hand on Della's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Della snatched away. "Next time someone approaches you about going to anything after show hours, go alone!"

"Hey, it's not my fault we're in a company full of adult chatty patties, males included," Sadie yelled behind Della when Della stormed off.

 **Della: Did u hear something about me today in the men's locker room.?**

 **Joe: Yep.**

 **Della: What?**

 **Joe: Something about u leaving the bar w/Elias.**

 **Della: Did he say we hooked up?**

 **Joe: No but he was entertaining the theories.**

 **Della: Did u believe any of those theories?**

 **Joe: No.**

 **Della: Well, wat was that look earlier? You were pissed!**

 **Joe: Why would I be pissed? I have no reason to be especially since we put an end to whatever that was we had going on. Nah, I was more annoyed that you'd actually go to a bar with that group of ppl. Whenever they go out after shows shit gets high school & you see what kinda high school drama followed.**

 **Della: I see…**

 **Joe: Heads up, my wife will be here tonight. Our house is in Tampa.**

 **Della: Why would I need a heads up especially since we put an end to whatever that was we had going on?**

 **Joe: Touché.**

Della heard Marina's voice before she saw her come into view being carried over Seth's shoulders like a 3 year old kicking and screaming. "Put me down, I just wanted to talk to him!"

"Yeah, sure. Is that why you were charging at him like a bull running to a matador?"

Della headed in the direction they were leaving. There she spotted Elias. He froze when they finally made eye contact. There were a few men: Braun and Balor and a few women: Mickie and Bayley standing around in the area. This was good because what she had to say would get back to both locker rooms and dispel the rumors. Della stopped directly in front of him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his shirtless body.

"So we hooked up, huh? Damn, you must've sucked because I don't remember it at all," Della yelled at him. She wanted to slap him but refrained.

He looked around at the bystanders. "Della, we can talk about this privately."

"Just like you could've killed the rumors but you didn't give me that respect so why should I give you the respect of doing this privately?"

"No matter what I said they weren't going to believe me especially since you said during truth or there that there was someone you'd hook up with on RAW and then the grinding..."

"Actually, the man I had in mind when I answered that question was not you and the grinding had more to do with the song than you. It literally said, _bend it over lift it up._ "

He shrugged it off. "Like I said, I didn't tell anyone we hooked up. It's no big deal."

"You're right, it's no big deal... _for you._ You're walking around here receiving high fives and pats on the back for hooking up with the hot new girl while the boys are looking at me wondering when to strike so they can have their turn and the women's locker room is shunning me like a slut," Della exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Della jumped when she heard Roman's voice behind her. She forgot that he was a locker room leader. "Let's finish this conversation somewhere else."

Della followed Roman and Elias to a room around the corner.

Roman leaned back against a table. "So what is this about?"

"I'm sure you have an idea of what's going on since you're in the men's locker room. I'm Della by the way, I don't know if you remember me from Wrestlemania weekend," Della reached a hand out and he shook it, she could tell he was holding back a smile. "But yeah, we went to a bar last night, he had to dare me in order to get a dance and then he walked me outside. Not even to my car, just literally outside. Absolutely nothing happened. _Nothing._ Which is why I was shocked when I arrived here today and heard a bunch of rumors that he didn't feel the need to clear up."

Roman turned a stern look on Elias, who had his head hanging. Roman looked so hot flexing his authority. "I did hear some things and if nothing happened, you should've denied it. The women have it hard enough, don't add extra bullshit to it, man."

"I wasn't trying to. I was just as shocked when I heard the accusations. I tried to tell anyone who asked that nothing happened. I would never let Della's reputation go to trash intentionally. She's special," Elias said. Roman looked taken aback by the special comment and his eyes snapped to Della until Elias continued. "No matter what I said they were going to believe what they wanted. You know that. When the locker room gets ahold of something, it's hard for them to let it go."

"That's true but there's a difference between denying it while laughing at the jokes being made and giving a firm no which is what you failed to do," Roman pointed out. "I think you owe Dele..Della an apology."

Elias turned to her. "I'm sorry Della and I'll keep that in mind next time."

"Next time? With who because it damn sure won't be with me," Della scoffed.

"And you," Roman said, addressing her.

"Me?" her brows rose.

"Yes, you," he nodded. "I don't know where you came from before WWE but the scene you put on out there, we don't act like that around here. For all you know the president of the Boys and Girls Club of America could've been walking around backstage checking out the product they're sponsoring. What if he saw you behaving that way?"

Della dropped her head. "Sorry about that."

"I'm just gonna go," Elias said, backing away.

Della watched Roman through slits as Elias walked off. When the door snapped shut and she was sure his footsteps were gone, she turned to him. "Get a little backstage clout and it goes to your head. Was that little rant necessary?"

He looked a little more relaxed now that they were alone. "It had to be said plus I couldn't just let you slide. How was that going to look?"

"But you didn't have to go in on me! I doubt Elias would've concluded, ' _hmm, Reigns didn't address her, GASP, they must've hooked up four years ago just days before his wedding_!"

Roman reached out and clamped his hand over her mouth but it was so large it covered her nose too. He bent his head low to whisper near her ear. "Delesia! I don't know if anyone has ever told you this but your voice is loud as hell when you're angry which is why I pulled you in here in the first place. I was two hallways away when I initially heard you yelling at Elias. My wife is present backstage right now. Even if she wasn't, you still don't want anyone to overhear. You think you got heat from the women over Elias, watch what'll happen if they ever caught wind of you and me."

"I can imagine," she snorted.

"Okay, let me go find Marina. Hopefully she hasn't killed Rollins. If only you two were single," she said with a dreamy sigh. "We could've had Shield boy double dates."

"Fangirl on 10," he chuckled. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Do you really care?" she countered.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Just what I said. Do you really care or are you just trying to make bullshit small talk?" she asked.

"Just because we can't be friendly with each other anymore doesn't mean I'm going to all of a sudden stop caring about you," he said.

 _I miss the fuck out of you._ Della thought to herself before shrugging nonchalantly. "I'm good."

"Me too," he replied before shaking his head. "Matter fact, I'm not going to lie. I was a little pissed this morning."

"Why?"

"Because I've replayed that night more than a few times in my head and I don't recall you shaking that ass on me but this guy that you claim you don't like gets it? I'm sure he _does_ think you're special," he teased.

"And you don't?" Della wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"If I didn't think you were special I wouldn't have invited you to my room that night, babe," Joe returned briefly as he grabbed the door handle. "I'll go first, give it a minute and you can come out."

"Why do I have to do the side chick exit? Everyone saw you pull me and Elias in here. There's no need to act like we're doing some top secret scandalous shit when we're literally just talking," Della protested.

"You're right," he said and opened the door. He let her walk out first like a gentleman and he moved to walk alongside her. A small crowd was loitering around but it wasn't anyone worth noting.

"Moral of the story is you can't let stuff like that get to you," Roman said playing it off. "I'll give you some credit for running up on a grown man like you were ready to fight, though. It's really not his fault so cut the guy some slack."

Della laughed but inside she wanted to cry knowing she'd never have another opportunity like this to walk with him side by side again talking as if it were normal. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the advice."

"Anytime," he said as they went their separate ways.

"Yeah, it's definitely Nattie approved," Sasha said, catching up to Della and answering Della's question from earlier. Word must've spread fast.

"We're cool?" Sasha smiled, reaching out a hand for Della to shake.

"No, we're actually not," Della stopped to face her. Sasha's smile faded and hand dropped. "I really hate that I'm about to show that a bitch is capable of getting under my skin so just know that it doesn't happen often. Here goes, I was very hurt by the fact that everyone just took a rumor and ran with it. All of you get in interviews talking about how the women's locker room isn't cut throat anymore, how you all look out for each other, sisterhood and blah blah blah but I didn't see any of that shit today. None of you walked up to me and asked if it was true or not! I would've appreciated that more than the silent treatment and having a door slammed in my face. It's also insulting that you thought answering some throwaway comment about eyeshadow was going to fix it."

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't think you were the random hook up type but the thing is, my knowledge of you begins and ends with what you do in the ring. I don't know how you get down as far as your love life is concerned so you could be the biggest whore in wrestling or you could be a virgin. What I do know for sure is multiple people saw you two dancing, you twerking on him and then walking out together so yeah, I went with it."

"Did any of those multiple people see us get in a car together, drive to his place or mine and get in bed?"

"No, they didn't and I was wrong for assuming."

"Someone once said when you ASSume you make an ass of yourself. I've been in this business for over a decade and no one can name one wrestler I've hooked up with. I didn't come to WWE to change that. Now that that's established, we're cool," Della then shook Sasha's hand.

She found Marina and Seth mid conversation. "...and I can't believe that burn it down stuff became a thing. It's so corny and those pants with the fire on them that you wear sometimes are so cringe."

"You are so lucky I find you hot," he scoffed, shaking his head.

"Oh, I am?"

"You are. I am very sensitive about my work and you've insulted it at least twelve times within the last fifteen minutes."

"Sorry.."

"I doubt you are but that's okay. It's refreshing to not have my ass kissed for a change," he replied.

Della cleared her throat and Marina looked up. "Oh, hey. Did you get that all sorted out."

"Yep, it's handled," she replied.

"Good deal. Now I have to get ready for the show," Rollins said, standing up.

"You sure looked comfortable with that taken man," Della said, sitting down in the spot Seth abandoned.

"Nice try, bitch, but a man with a girlfriend of less than two years is different from a married father of three. And I wouldn't describe me deflating his ego as comfortable but whatever. Anyway, I didn't see an ambulance pull up back here so I'm guessing it was handled civilly."

"Yes, thanks to our locker room leader," Della smiled.

"What happened?"

"He got in the middle of the showdown between Elias and me. He pulled us aside, scolded him, scolded me. He was all business aka Roman but at the last second he snapped back to Joe. I feel like we would have talked more but his wife is backstage.."

"Speaking of your sister-wife...don't look because she's coming this way," Marina whispered.

His wife looked very pretty and the children were adorable. He had a beautiful family and Della suddenly felt sick to her stomach. "I never really feel bad until I see them. Good thing I'm over it because I'd feel so horrible right now."

"Are you really over it or are the feelings just on pause until his horniness finally outweighs his guilt?"

When she walked by them, she blankly scanned Della before turning her attention back to her children. The action was brief and only took 3 seconds but it almost made Della's heart stop.

"Did you see that?" Della whispered.

"Did I? She sized you up," Marina whispered back.

"Do you think she knows?" Della wondered inquisitively.

"Nope but you're definitely on her radar now."

"You think?"

"Yep, Roman takes his happily married father image seriously judging by his interviews and he actually does love her so she probably doesn't think he'll cheat but still, a woman always knows her man's type and who to watch out for. From this day forward you better tread lightly or else," Marina warned.

* * *

 **I'm thinking of writing a new WWE story but I don't know on what or on who. Hmm...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sadie: The pap shots have hit the net. U looked great. I'm so jelly.**

 **Della: Don't be. It's hot af in NYC and they had me in fur coats, fur scarfs, fur hats and fur boats because it's gonna be for the November issue. PETA is gonna crucify me.**

 **Sadie: Bitch, it's Vogue U.S. headed by THE Anna Wintour herself. Who cares if you're uncomfortable. My first American Vogue shoot was in a bikini in below 0 temperature in Alaska during a blizzard. Are u shooting the cover.**

 **Della: Nah. Rihanna because she's bigger than me, my life, my existence. I'm getting a nice spread inside tho.**

 **Sadie: Yea, I lost a cover to Rihanna once too lol. It was an honor. U flying home tomorrow?**

 **Della: Nah, Pittsburgh is only an 1.30 min flight so I'm gonna go crash Extreme Rules.**

 **Marina: Is it bad that I didn't remember there was a PPV tomorrow?**

 **Della: Nope. It's nothing to remember. The card appears to be a glorified Raw with a few stipulations thrown in. What r y'all doing?**

 **Marina: I'm at the gym getting ready for the houseshow this evening.**

 **Sadie: I'm at the tanning salon getting ready for the houseshow this evening.**

 **Della: Oh, I'm at the gym too.**

* * *

"Is this treadmill taken?" Della asked, not waiting for a response before climbing on. He wouldn't have responded anyway since he had headphones covering his ears.

Roman glanced over slightly before realizing it was her and removing his headphones. "Did NXT have a Takeover in Pittsburgh last night that I'm not aware of?"

"I had a photoshoot in Times Square yesterday so I decided to make the flight to Extreme Rules tonight instead of going home."

He looked around the mostly empty gym. "Where are your friends?"

"NXT has a house show that's probably started by now and since I'm not an active performer at the moment, I get to do what I want with my free time."

"Wish I had that luxury," he replied, slowing down to a jog.

"Oh really?" Della turned an antagonizing gaze on him. " _Mr. Fuck part timers, I'm always here and I'm always gonna be here, belee that_ wants some free time?"

"Sure I'm dedicated to my job but I'm still a husband and father," he reasoned.

"Don't remind me," she sighed bitterly. "Are they in town for the show since it's the summer, no school and all?"

"No. When it was just her and Jojo, it was easy for them to come to summer pay per views and Raws but it's hard trying to transport two little boys alone now. I'm going to meet my daughter in LA Tuesday though for some events I'm booked for," his treadmill stopped abruptly. He let out an exhausted breath. "That's it for me."

Della looked at her treadmill. "I'm at 388 calories. I'm trying to burn 500 aka the fat slice of chocolate cake I had earlier."

Della took a quick shower before walking back into the locker room area. She whistled as she saw Roman digging through his bag with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He jumped with surprise and pulled his towel tighter around himself. "What are you doing in here?"

"What am I doing? Trying to figure out why you're covering yourself. You know I've seen and had you naked inside of me, right?" she chuckled. "Did you read the sign on the door? Co-ed!"

"They also have a separate women's only locker room where I'm sure you would've been comfortable," he replied.

"I'm comfortable here," she mentioned before dropping her towel to the floor.

It seemed like he tried not to look at her and failed. His towel began rising slowly and he turned his back to her to get dressed.

"I like your fulll beard. It's much sexier than that little goatee. You must think you're a man now."

"You of all people should know I'm a man," he mumbled.

"Yes you are," she giggled.

"You confuse me," he said stepping into his sweatpants.

"What do you mean?" she asked, unsure of where this was heading.

"Let's go back a month or so ago when you took the pin in the finals because you were scared of us being on the road together and what would happened. Now here you are prancing around naked in front of me like it's nothing. If you're trying to play a game of cat and mouse, this mouse isn't interested," he sounded defensive.

"I'm not playing games. It's just...the thought of cutting all ties with you is easier said than done. When I'm away from you it's like ' _fuck him, I'm over it anyway'_ but when I'm near you it's a different story as you can see so technically I made the right decision to stay in NXT."

He seemed a little sympathetic after her explanation. "I have to admit I find myself thinking about you more than I should but that still doesn't change the fact that _you_ were the one who thought it'd be best for us to have as little contact with each other as possible."

"Can't we at least go back to the way we used to be when you'd facetime me every now and then," she pouted.

"Delesia, no. I mean look," he said motioning the bulge sitting up in his sweatpants and then to her hard nipples. "Not a good idea."

"This is understandable because we're naked so our reaction is just human nature. It's also showing that we have restraint because two people with less will power would be up against the wall by now," Della pointed out.

Roman's eyes flicked to the wall as if he was imagining it. He shook his head. "Yeah, I don't think resuming communication is a good idea at all. Not to mention inappropriate since we're coworkers and I'm a married man."

"When in doubt throw ' _I'm a married man'_ out," she grumbled as she fastened her bra behind her.

"I like how you said I'm throwing it out as if I try to hide it. Just on the treadmill I mentioned my wife and kids. Name one person who doesn't know Roman Reigns or _Joe Anoa'i_ is married. It's not a secret," he responded firmly. "I don't know how many times I have to say this but I love my wife and I love my children."

"Nice declaration and I have no doubt you do but it's not exactly helping your case because how many inappropriate comments have you made towards me since you've been married. How many inappropriate looks have you given me since you've been married. Let's not even talk about that very inappropriate close call we had in your hotel room the night before the finals," she snapped. "Do you think just because we haven't had sex again it makes everything else that's gone down between us okay?"

At this point he was becoming visibly frustrated as he tied his wet hair into a bun. "Fuck me for trying to do the right thing. Do you know how hard it is to be dedicated and loyal to my family but still feel this way about you? I don't speak on it much but I'm religious, I went to a catholic school so I know that the bible states anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. The only solution to this problem is getting it out of our system and that's not possible."

It was as if a lightning bulb went off above her head. "That's actually a good idea because what if the sex wasn't that great to begin with. It probably was average. What if it was just the ' _I'm fucking Roman Reigns_ ' and ' _this is the last one before I get married_ ' hype elevating the

experience and made it memorable. If we fucked again and it sucked we probably wouldn't want each other anymore. Problem solved."

"I know what I felt that night, Delesia and it wasn't average. Nothing about you is average which is why I need you to stay your ass away from me," he warned, throwing his duffel bag over his shoulder.

* * *

Della didn't go backstage because she wasn't there as a talent tonight. She sat in the crowd behind the hard camera with the WWE tech guys looking at monitors. Fans kept taking pictures of her thinking she was making a surprise run in during one of the women's matches. Besides the spot during Braun vs Kevin, there was nothing extreme about Extreme Rules and she left early during the main event, Ziggler vs Rollins.

 **Marina: Being good? I'm not there to hold you back from making bad decisions….**

 **Della: Only a few years ago you were the one leading me to bad decisions….**

 **Marina: Well we're WWE employed now and have to keep a clean nose.**

 **Della: Yeah, yeah, yeah you keep reminding me. If you're asking about 'him' he made it clear that we weren't going there again.**

 **Marina: Sure…**

 **Della: Goodnight.**

 **Marina: The houseshow was wonderful. Sadie is improving and Tierra got a 'that was awesome' chant. Thank u sooo very much for asking.**

 **Della: My photoshoot went well yesterday. Thank YOU for asking.**

 **Marina: -_- I didn't think that was important to u.**

 **Della: It's not but maybe I'm sensitive about not being apart of the houseshow...again.**

When she got out of the shower her phone was already vibrating on the bed. Joe.

"Hello?"

"Room 943."

"What are you telling me for? I thought you wanted me to stay my ass away from you? On one hand you're a married man on the other hand you want me to come to my room. See, _you're_ the one who keeps confusing things, Joe."

"I wanted you to stay away from me out of fear I wouldn't be able to control myself. Right now I'm too tired and sore to move let alone fuck," he chuckled. "Sleep doesn't look like it's coming and I just wanted company."

"What room did you say?"

"943."

"I'm on my way."

She threw on an oversized t-shirt over her naked body and stepped into her slippers. Thankfully no other Superstars were on the halls at the time so she walked right up the his door without interruption. She knocked and it took him a minute to get to the door. He looked tired and beat down in his t-shirt and boxers which threw her off. She hadn't been around him after a big match. Four years ago they met after he'd had a match on Raw but of course he was younger and just starting out so his body hadn't had much wear and tear.

He must've read her mind because he smiled. "I usually try not to let it show."

"You're 270 pounds, Joe. You can't get out there and throw yourself around like you're Seth's size. Fuck trying to show off, it's going to go unappreciated anyway. You can steal the moveset of everyone from 205 live and the entire New Japan roster and they'll still claim you can't wrestle," she said, jumping on the bed.

"I'm never going to go out there and half-ass it because a small group of assholes are upset at how a PG show geared towards children is booked," he replied.

"That's true but at the end of the day, you have to preserve your body. When you retire in like 10 years your twins will be teens and probably playing sports themselves if they're anything like you. You should want to be able to go outside and play with them instead of watching them from the window because your back and knees are shot."

He appeared to be in a trance and blinked. "You know I've never thought about it that way."

"Yeah, don't say I never gave you any veteran advice," she laughed. "There's a healthy medium between going all out and working safe."

"I assume you aren't there yet because last time I saw you in a match you were jumping over the barricade."

"Hey, I'm not the one who has kids that depend on me," she pointed out. "If I go out there and paralyze myself in the ring tomorrow it won't affect anyone besides my parents I guess since they'll have to take care of me."

"One day you will have kids."

"Eh, I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Hopefully my future baby daddy isn't married with three kids of his own," she snorted.

"I'm pretty sure that won't be difficult to find. You know if I were single I'd wife and knock you up quick," he smiled wistfully. "Earlier you mentioned not being an active performer. What's up with that? They brought you in, treated you like a big deal, all of our peers were hyping you up and now nothing. What's up with that?"

"The Humbling of Della Stone, now playing in a theater near you. I get the concept but I think I've been 'punished' long enough. Before I left for New York, I was in the ring training Sadie and forgot how to execute my own damn finisher! I was like wait, is she supposed to turn herself into position or do I turn her into position? I'm rusty as hell! As risky as my moveset is, it's not something I need to forget."

He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "I see where management is coming from though."

"How so?"

"Remember what I told you after the Elias incident about how we don't act like that in the WWE?" he asked and she nodded. "It's the truth. You have something special. You didn't want the WWE, the WWE wanted you. I can't think of many who can say that. They apparently see you as an asset."

"Or maybe they just wanted to eliminate all competition which is why they're signing just about every indy wrestler knowing they aren't going to use half of them," she ranted.

"Why are you so cynical?" he shook his head and continued. "Right now they're all about Ronda. What makes Ronda special is not only is she a badass, she's a star. WWE is big on making headlines and staying relevant in the mainstream media these days. Ronda won't be here forever because she's already doing interviews about wanting to have a baby soon but you can fill that void when she leaves because you have the look, the athleticism, the mic skills and the mainstream appeal. But if you want to be a star, you have to start conducting yourself like a star. You can't get on Twitter cursing people out, you can't walk around backstage attacking other wrestlers and you can't keep that controversial character you portrayed on the independent scene. You also can't go around tempting married men either but that's another story."

"Are we going to sit here and pretend Ronda wasn't a cunt in the UFC? Called the other women of the UFC 'do nothing bitches' and talked more shit than Conor McGregor. Of course she's nice, gratuitous and humble now after she got her ass whooped twice but she was no different than me. Actually, she was worse than me considering the UFC is "real" and I just play a character. It sounds like you want me neutured. I guess I'm not good enough the way I am, huh?" Della turned her back to him, straining against the urge to storm out of the room.

He put his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off. He sighed. "Delesia, of course you're good enough. I love everything about you from the shy girl I originally met to the one who talks shit sitting in front of me now. If it were up to me you wouldn't have to change a thing but it's not up to me. I just want you to get all that you deserve in this company and I don't want anything to hold you back. In order to do that, you have to…"

"Know your role, shut your mouth?" she said, quoting The Rock.

"That's not quite what I was going to say. I was thinking more along the lines of being yourself behind closed doors and keeping it PR friendly in public," he explained. "There are so many little girls who look up to the women in the division. You know I have a daughter of my own. I don't want her to see you on tv and think ' _hey, that's the nice lady from the dress store, she's cool_ ' only to look you up on Twitter and see you alluding to missing weed!"

"First of all, stop stalking my page! Second, I understand that about little girls and stuff and I can maybe tone down the cursing and adult subjects but I don't want to lose myself while doing so. Being in WWE was never in my plans but I always said if I caved and signed on the dotted line, I wouldn't become a corporate shill. I bet some of the women and men on the main roster are miserable as fuck right now but they put on a happy face because they're afraid of catching heat and losing their spots. I don't know if I can watch myself turn into that. It feels like they're breaking me down now," she closed her eyes to stop the tears that almost started to fall.

"You're a very strong woman and I don't think anyone or anything is capable of breaking you down," he said, laying himself down on the bed and hissing in pain. He looked at her worried expression. "Don't do that. I'm a man, remember?"

"Did you take anything?"

"Yeah, I popped two Aleves right before I called you."

"Aleves? Aleve don't even get rid of my menstrual cramps! I had surgery on my knee a year ago and I kept my leftover Percocets for a rainy day. I can go get them if you want. They'll help you go to sleep, too," she said starting to get up but he gripped her knee, stopping her.

"You trying to get me on strike 2 and in rehab?"

"Oh please, they know you guys are hurting and shouldn't penalize for that. Hell, they should be passing out the strong shit themselves."

"If it's real bad post-match and we go to get checked out, they'll shoot us up with meds but I try to stay away from that. Those pills are addictive. I always think about the many wrestlers who've passed from overdoses or complications of drug abuse," he said thoughtfully.

"Complications like Eddie. He'd been clean for a while but that didn't erase the strain that years of pill abuse had on his heart."

"Exactly. So unless I just had surgery, it's over the counter meds for me or nothing at all."

"Now I feel bad about having mine. I feel like I want to go flush them down the toilet right now."

"Don't do that. You can't make yourself suffer because my pain tolerance is high. If you've had them from a year ago, you obviously aren't abusing them. Trust me, you aren't the only one on the roster with a bottle of the good stuff stashed away. Believe that," he smirked. "They don't test NXT like talking about anyway so you can do what you want."

"Come to think about it, I haven't had a drug test since the one I took signing day. Hmm..." an evil smirk crossed her face.

"Don't get carried away now."

"If you aren't going to let me drug you up, the least I can do is give you a massage," she offered.

"Any other instance I would say no but I'm not in any condition to turn it down tonight," he took his shirt off and rolled over onto his stomach.

She started at his ankles. His leg muscles relaxed immediately under her hands as she worked on his knees and thighs. When she made it to his butt she squeezed it. "I see why you don't wear trunks. This would be too much for women and gay men to handle. It's so plump and juicy and Samoan!"

"That is not the problem area," he grumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"Alright, alright," she laughed, moving on to his lower back. After a few minutes he was really beginning to loosen up.

He groaned in pleasure. "I'll make you my platonic road wife if I can get this after every match."

"Platonic? I'd road-divorce your ass so fast." A lot of wrestlers had wives or serious girlfriends at home while finding a road wife in one of his female coworkers. They'd travel together and do what the wife or girlfriend wasn't available to do. It was more of a pre-social media thing because back in the day every move a wrestler made and who they made them with wasn't documented by fans with smartphones.

His upper back and shoulders were very stressed. She couldn't help herself as she leaned down to kiss his neck and shoulders as she went along.

Roman flinched in response. "Last I checked this wasn't an erotic massage and if it is, I want my money back because I don't see no candles, no massage oil."

"I can download a virtual candle in the app store and I have baby oil in my bag if that'll suffice," she snorted.

"Nah, I don't want the Orton special. Just be professional," he told her.

Della laughed. "He isn't as shiny as he used to be and I'll try but I won't make you any promises."

As she moved from his neck to the sides and top of his head he really began to relax and feel better. "Are you ready to turn over?"

"No," he said into the pillow.

"Why not? I need to get the front of you now."

"What you did on the back of me will do," he said hastily.

Della bit her lip into a smile. "Joe, are you?"

Without response he rolled over and it was sticking out of the hole in his boxers. He shrugged. "There was a sexy girl feeling on me, couldn't help it. Human nature as you put it earlier. Don't try anything crazy like sliding down on it or anything because I doubt you have anything on under that shirt dress."

"I don't," she confirmed with a seductive smirk. "You caught me coming out of the shower and I just threw it on."

She massaged his chest and stomach and tried her best to ignore the poking of his tip that she felt against her skin as she leaned over him. She moved down to his thighs and legs. By the time she finished, she noticed he was leaking precum. He watched her like a hawk as she cupped his balls and grasped his shaft. It pulsed in her hands.

He threw his head back and moaned. "Delesia, what did I tell you?"

"Not to get on top of it and I didn't," she said innocently while she stroked him.

His chest rose and fell with shaky breaths. "No sexual touch was implied when I said _or anything_."

"Implied but not stated. Do you want me to stop?"

"Well, you're doing it now. If you stop I'll get blue balls and let me tell you, that'll hurt worse than any pain I felt in the ring tonight," he hissed as she circled the head with her thumb.

It didn't take long for her to engulf him in her mouth. His back arched from the bed and his eyes popped open. She decided to explain her actions. "You were sore, I made you feel better. The second problem was you couldn't sleep and this could help. Want me to stop?"

"We've clearly gone too far but you can't stop now," he whispered. He lifted his hips and slid his boxers down to give her full access. She looked him in the eyes and started sucking him, slowly sliding his dick in and out of her mouth. Little by little she increased the pace and the pressure, gradually sucking harder. When Della felt him getting close she slipped him out of her mouth and started licking his balls and the underside of his shaft.

Roman tried to steer her mouth back onto him. She laughed as she dodged his hands, but decided to take mercy on him. Her lips parted wetly around the head of his penis again as she took him back into my mouth. Her wet tongue swirled around his shaft as she sucked. She felt his hands caressing her head and shoulders as he mumbled incoherently.

"I'm almost.." he couldn't finish the sentence. Della kept the same pace, feeling the tension in his his thighs beneath her. Seconds later he erupted. She'd barely finished swallowing his cum when his hands went under her arms and physically lifted her to his chest.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" she smiled.

"Actually it was horrible," Roman looked away from her and refused to make eye contact but that didn't stop him from locking his arms around her back as his head lulled and he fell asleep.

* * *

She woke up alone in the hotel Monday morning and didn't like the feeling. The sheets on top of her were cold and she didn't like the feeling. She looked over at the nightstand and saw no note, she didn't like the feeling. She looked at her phone and saw no new messages...she didn't like the feeling. She knew he was probably making the 4 hour trip to Buffalo to Raw. Instead of chasing behind him to Raw, she decided to go home and check in with him later.

 **Della: Hey. Just got off my flight to Orlando. Hopefully ur doing much better today. :-)**

 **Della: Uhm, hi.**

 **Della: wtf?!**

 **Della: r u ignoring me or just busy?**

 **Della: I kno I probably look a little stalkerish right now with all the call and facetime attempts but I just want to kno how u r feeling after what happened last nite?**

 **Della: Now I know how Elias felt looking at a one sided conversation. At least ur read receipts are off. Lol.**

 **Della: Well RAW is over and I kno u r meeting w/your daughter in LA tomorrow so I'm gonna try 2 call one more time and hopefully u answer.**

 **Della: -_-**

All Monday she'd made multiple attempts to call, text and facetime him with no response. All she wanted to do was touch base and know how he was felt about what happened. Now Thursday, she felt like dejected shit.

"Shayna and I went over some new moves while you were away. We're going to do them during the closing sequence. I can't wait to get your opinion on them post match," Marina said as she prepared for her match tonight.

"'K," Della sounded down.

"'K? Did something happen after Extreme Rules with _him_ that you're not telling me about? You've been moping around ever since you got home from the airport," Marina replied.

"Because I can't be in a shitty mood unless it's JRD, huh?" Della barked.

"JRD?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Joe related depression."

"So he's Joe again?" Marina rolled her eyes.

"Fine, RRRD! Would you rather me say his full ring name loud and proud while we're surrounded by a sea of people? It has nothing to do with him. Being locked in a year long contract and not being able to do what the fuck I love is really starting to get to me, okay?" Della lied, hoping to dismiss the matter.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry for being inconsiderate, Della," Marina apologized. "I was just really pumped about my first title match and forgot about your situation."

"It's okay, really it is. Tonight is your big night and you have every right to be excited," Della put her hand on Marina's shoulder and faked a smile. She couldn't have Marina blaming herself over a lie she'd used to cover her own ass. "My period just started this morning so that probably has something to do with it too."

She felt her emotions begin to well up inside of her and if she didn't talk about it soon, she was going to explode. She picked up her phone and began dialing the only person she could talk to without being judged.

"Ah, my long lost twin," Denesia answered and Della began crying as soon as she heard her voice. "Della what's wrong?"

"It's Joe," she sniffed in a sobbing voice.

"Who?"

Della looked around to make sure the coast was clear. "Roman."

"What about him? Didn't you break it off with him when you were home in Chicago?"

"I thought I did and we'd stopped all communication until I went to the pay per view Sunday. He invited me to his room…"

"Recurring theme," Denesia interrupted.

"He was tired and sore so I offered to give him a massage…"

"Uh oh…"

"Yeah, let's just say we ended the session on a _happy_ note," Della finished. "He left the next morning without saying goodbye, no note, no text and I tried to contact him a million times and got nothing. I feel like such a dirty slut and he obviously doesn't care because he's been running around all shaved and posing on the red carpet with his daughter like father of the year."

"I know you're upset but think about his feelings. I'm sure he's upset too. He stepped out on his marriage for the first time. Give the guy time to come to terms with the line he officially crossed," Denesia logically stated. "Do you know how hard it probably was for him to look his daughter in the eyes knowing what he did?"

"He looked Galina in the eyes as he said his vows days after we had sex and I consider that worse than just getting sucked to sleep. But I do feel bad because he didn't really do anything. I'm the one who initiated it. I don't think that was in his plans. Of course after I started he was up for it, literally, but I basically forced him into it. I feel so rapey," she shivered.

"Actually, he initiated it by inviting you to his room and allowing a former lover to touch his body intimately with a massage. Even if his intentions were innocent, the guy is not oblivious to the sexual tension you two have. He had to know something would eventually happen if he insists on inviting you to his room, if not that night, another. Don't confuse his guilt with nonconsent."

"You're right but I still feel awful about the way he's going about it. He could've easily said he needed time to think as opposed to ignoring me," Della whined.

"Just ignore him when he's ready to talk again. Simple."

"How do you know he'll be ready to talk?"

"This isn't like the last time where you two left the hotel and fell out of each other's lives for years. You work for the same damn company which means crossing paths is inevitable."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, NXT is taping live tonight so I have to get going."

"Why? It's not like you're on the card," Denesia snorted.

"Bitch! I wish you'd died in the womb!" Della laughed, quoting the infamous Nikki Bella promo.

"But you're laughing and that's the important thing."

"I am, I knew you were the right one to call," Della smiled. "Bye."

"Have you been crying?" Triple H asked when he stood beside her watching the monitor during Shayna vs Marina. She cried pretty hard so she was sure her eyes were still puffy.

"Yeah, but it was no biggy," she replied, not looking at him.

He turned her to face him. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, you're making me miss the closing sequence," she chuckled.

Shayna won and after the referee raised and let go of her hand, she attacked Marina from behind as Marina was exiting the ring.

"I think this is Shayna's best match to date," Della said ignoring the post-match antics taking place before her.

"...until you get in there with her," he replied.

"Whenever that is…" Della mumbled under her breath.

"Now!" he said.

"What?" Della's head whipped around.

"Go make the save…"

Della looked down at herself and back up at him. "I haven't been to hair and makeup. My eyes and face are puffy from crying. I'm dressed like I just rolled out of bed and in fact I have a grease stain on my shirt from that chicken I had in catering. TMI but I'm bloated from my period! These HD WWE cameras pick up everything! Can't I just retaliate against Shayna at the next taping?"

H stared down at her stone faced. "Della, I swear to fucking God, after all the pouting and subliminal tweeting you've been doing about not wrestling if you don't get your ass to gorilla in 5 seconds you may as well sit the rest of your contract out because you won't get booked in storyline again if I have to do it! 5, 4, 3, 2…"

"Fine, fine, you don't have to yell," Della took her shirt off to reveal a sports bra underneath. She tied her hair into a ponytail and tried to suck her stomach in.

H put a headset on and asked someone to play Della's theme.

"I guess they missed me," Della smiled when she heard the loud pop before going through the curtains. She sprinted down the ramp and clotheslined Shayna out of the ring. They exchanged intense looks with each other for the cameras. Della helped Marina up and walked her to the back.

"The closing sequence that you two worked on? Awesome," Della praised them once Shayna joined them backstage.

Marina wiggled her jaw. "I think you got me good with an elbow during that closing exchange, Shayna."

"Sorry about that. I get a little carried away when my adrenaline gets pumping," Shayna sounded apologetic. She was nice. Della was annoyed that she walked in and got the title due to her Ronda connection but she didn't dislike her.

"Thank you for tonight," Della said to Triple H. "Does this mean I'm next in line for a championship opportunity?"

He shook his head. "We aren't ready to take the title off of Shayna and we don't want you losing your first feud just for the hell of it. You don't need to be in the title picture to still be a prominent figure in the division."

"Okay, what am I going to do then?"

"Reunite with Marina storyline wise," he replied.

Della knew that meant they had nothing for her and sticking her with Marina was a cop out but in order to 'play the game' as Monica called it, she smiled and nodded. "Sounds good to me."

 **DStoneWWE: I'm back in the ring where I belong and it's about damn time. I'll see Shayna soon enough. Right now I'm ready to get this reunion tour with Marina started.**

 **Candice1999: Are u pregnant? You had a belly and your face was puffy. You don't usually look like that.**

"OMG, they're saying that I'm either pregnant or had an abortion on social media which explains my absence," Della sighed. "Damn, did I look _that_ bad out there tonight?"

"No, you're usually a 10 and tonight you were a 9.75 so that raised some questions," Sadie replied.

 **DStoneWWE: Yea, it's true guys. I'm pregnant! That's why I was out so long. I came back because I wanted my fetus to feel me in action. You heard it here first.**

Saturday night they made their WWE debut as a team facing Sadie and Tierra. They couldn't go all out considering their opponents were still green but they had a decent showing. It was time for their finisher. Della ducked between Sadie's legs and stood with Sadie sitting on her shoulders while Sadie punched her head in an attempt to get away. Della went to sit on the second rope. Marina climbed up on the ropes and hurricanrana'd Sadie off Della's shoulders and onto the canvas. The crowd popped for it but that it wasn't over. Della stepped up to the top rope and came down on Sadie with a Phoenix splash. 1...2...3.

After the match was over Della and Marina went around the ring greeting fans and taking selfies.

"You two will never be on Sasha and Bayley's level," one guy yelled out.

"What level?" Della asked. "They both peaked here in NXT."

It was caught on camera and the video was shared all over Twitter and Instagram.

 **SashaBanksWWE: Oh really? I guess being a 4 time Women's Champ, main eventing PPVs and participating in historic matches doesn't count.**

 **DStoneWWE: The only reason any of that was "historic" is because y'all were playing catch up. To me main evening a PPV and having stipulation matches was just another night and I didn't need to cry afterwards like** _ **some**_ **overly emotional people.**

 **ItsMeBayley: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it...does it make a sound?**

 **MarinaCanFly: Good one, Bayley, now repeat that same line in the middle of the ring with a mic in your hand without sounding remedial?**

* * *

They went back and forth all Saturday night and all of Sunday. They exchanged and liked shady tweet after shady tweet. Their fanbases were at war with each other too. Della finally decided to slid into Sasha's DM.

 _ **Della: I know I probably should've said this to you Saturday after it began circulating but u kno the comment in the vid that started it all was just us in character, right? We think we're the best & we portray ourselves as the best by any means necessary. **_

_**Sasha: Yea I know. No heat here. I'm enjoying working the fans into thinking this is legit beef tho.**_

 _ **Della: Welp, I guess we'll keep it up until next year if/when Marina & I debut. **_

_**Sasha: Ready for round 388999955311110?**_

 _ **Della: Sure.**_

* * *

 **SashaBanksWWE: Look who didn't show up to work last weekend. This model and part time wrestler is the one who's supposed the change the game? *paparazzi shots of Della's Vogue photoshoot in NYC***

 **DStoneWWE: Worry about why ur edges haven't shown up to work in years.**

When they reported to NXT Monday morning, they were immediately directed to H's office. They didn't have both feet in the door good before he went in. "Did you enjoy your weekend? I'm sure you did. Della, not only did you bury your coworkers, you buried the women's revolution in your initial tweet! And Marina, I am shocked at you. I knew Della had a smart mouth but you too? You had me fooled thinking you were the quiet, level headed one."

"Yeah we kind of got carried away," Marina replied.

"Carried away? Carried away is a few tweets. You two spent all weekend going back and forth! It was excessive. Some of the stuff you were throwing at each other was out of bounds and for young ladies."

"Everyone wanted the last word," Marina shrugged.

"I see which is why you two are taking the fall at Thursday to Sadie and Tierra."

Della groaned. "Really? To two rookies? What happened to not wanting me to lose my first feud?"

"I said feud, not match," he corrected.

"That's even worse," Della bit out.

He turned his back to them. "You are dismissed. Get to that practice ring and prepare your opponents for Thursday."

* * *

 **Thursday**

They remixed Della and Marina's theme together for their tag entrance. They received a pop but they weren't too enthusiastic about it. Losing a match was one thing that neither had a problem with, losing as punishment was another. Marina mustered enough energy to get fake hype during the walk to the ring and Della tried to do the same. It didn't work out. Her body was bouncing but her face was set on fuck it.

Marina got into the ring and so did Tierra. Before the bell rung Della heard commotion coming from the back of the crowd. Standing behind her turnbuckle, she tried to see what was going on. All she knew is it must've been interesting because a lot of fans were scrambling to grab their phones. She climbed on the bottom rope to get some leverage to see over the crowd. She still didn't see it fully but what she saw made her gasp. Purple hair and a side ponytail. She wondered if it was cosplay from two fans who wanted to troll them but when she climbed to the second rope, she saw that it was really Sasha and Bayley in the flesh. Della looked at Marina and motioned for her to come over.

"What are the hell are they doing here?" Marina asked. "Is this supposed to be an angle? Why weren't we notified?"

"I don't know but they're coming through the crowd so we'll soon find out," Della said as she watched security spread the crowd to create a path for Sasha and Bayley.

Sasha and Bayley both flashed tickets to the referee who walked over to them. Two chairs were placed ringside behind the barricade for them. That pissed Della off. It was one thing to have them lose but to do it to humiliate them in front of Sasha was another.

Marina and Tierra started the match off. Tierra was coming along nicely especially because her moveset was basic consisting of power moves, suplexes and slams. They went for about five minutes before tagging their partners in.

Della immediately pulled Sadie into a headlock to get a few things straight. "Sadie, you better work like my reputation depends on it. I will not be embarrassed in front of those bitches!"

Sadie listened. Every move was crisp. Every now and then Della noticed Sasha and Bayley whispering to each other. At one point Sasha yelled something at Della but Della couldn't understand it but still took offense.

"Are you familiar with Sasha's moveset?" Della asked.

"Maybe?" Sadie replied.

"All you have to do is stand there and wait. When you see me coming down, try not to get your teeth kneed out and whatever you do, please catch me," Della instructed.

"I'm over this match! Get my robe ready!" Sadie yelled at her assistance, stepping out of the ring and walking in front of the commentator's booth.

Della got into position to stand on the ring apron. "Sadie?"

"WHAT?!" Sadie answered, turning around and Della came down with Sasha's flying double knees.

That drew a collective 'ooooo' from the audience and they all turned to see Sasha's reaction. She looked legitimately ticked. Marina didn't make it any better as she walked to the corner and yelled at Sasha. "That move never looked so... _legit_. Isn't that right... _boss_?"

Bayley leaned over and whispered something to Sasha and she laughed. They both got up and started walking away.

While Marina watched, Tierra rolled her up from behind and the ref counted. 1...2...3. The camera cut to Sasha smirking afterwards. Della rejoined Marina in the ring and they furiously stared down the other set of besties.

"Surprise!" Sasha greeted them once they all made it backstage.

"How long did you know?" Marina asked.

"Every since Sunday night when Papa H contacted us," Bayley revealed. "Your friends didn't tell you?"

"Our friends?" Della looked around at Sadie and Tierra who were grinning. "You bitches knew and didn't say anything?"

"Yeah, we know," Tierra nodded. "How did you think we knew the cue to roll Marina up when she was distracted by Sasha and Bayley walking away?"

Triple H leaned against the door frame. "I have another surprise for you two."

"We're moving up?" Marina asked.

"Not quite. The social media response to your Twitter fight has been so crazy that we decided to do a crossbrand feud," he said. "For the next few weeks you two will be on the road with Raw feuding with Sasha and Bayley in a feud that will end at Summerslam. There are many more surprises to come so stay tuned."

Marina's mouth was wide with excitement but Della was dreading it because that meant she'd have to be around _him._

* * *

 **Author's Note:** At the end of last chapter I said I was thinking about writing another WWE fic and was looking for ideas on who to write it on. Mr. Balor won so keep your eyes peeled for that. I can't say a specific date yet but I'm working on it so subscribe to author alerts I guess to know the moment it happens. The lead will be a new OC and the story will be in this same fic universe so expect cameos from Della, Marina and the others. ;-) I'm so excited.

 **That is all. See you next chapter to read the fallout from what went down in the hotel room.**

Oh, one more thing. I have a Tumblr: **ThatWriterGirlWWE** It's pretty basic for now. I just have two post which feature what I imagine my cast for this story looking like. I plan on going back eventually and fixing it up. Maybe post one shots, story updates and new chapter previews, etc.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sunday Morning...**

"That white one on the end is nice," Marina pointed out of the window at the car rental place in Lexington, Kentucky.

"It's kind of small. You know I need a lot of trunk space for my bags," Della replied. "I think we need an SUV. I like the silver one on the front row."

"I just rented that one. You two can ride to Pikeville with me if you want," Della jumped when she saw Seth's reflection in the window behind them.

"Hell no!" Marina snapped.

"Why'd you say it like that?" he asked.

"Because the last time the three of us were alone together in a closed in space you tried to proposition us for a threesome," she replied.

"I did?" he appeared to be thinking. It didn't take him long to smile. "Oh yeah, a few years back in the elevator. I probably was drunk because in my sober mind, I know Della would never hook up with me."

"Me either! Not then, not now, not ever," Marina flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Thanks for the carpool offer but no thanks."

"Well okay," he shrugged.

Della watched from the window as he stepped outside and loaded his bags in the trunk. She turned to Marina. "You know we both hate driving for extended periods of time."

"Extended? Lexington to Pikeville is only a two hour drive."

"But then after that we have to make the early morning drive to Carbondale, Illinois for Raw. It's like 7 hours," Della pointed out.

Marina relented with a sigh. "Fine, but he better not say anything to me, he better not touch me and I don't even want to make eye contact with him through the rearview mirror while I'm in the backseat!"

"Gosh, Marina, chill out. I think he's calmed down a little from the way he used to be," Della replied. Seth was slowly pulling off but she flagged him down. "Hey, is the offer still good?"

"Sure," he smiled as if he knew they were going to give in. Seth picked up their heavy bags and threw them in the back like they were light pillows. "Alright, let's go."

Della jumped in the backseat which left the passenger seat open. Marina also slid in the backseat.

"Really?" Seth snorted, starting up the car. "If you two are here, I guess the women's tag rumor may have some truth to it."

"We'll see," Della shrugged. "Do you ride solo all the time?"

"Cesaro was my riding buddy but of course The Bar was drafted to Smackdown after Mania," he explained.

"Are y'all going to the house show tonight?" he asked as they pulled into the hotel.

"Nah, Triple H doesn't want us to be spotted before tomorrow," Della replied.

"Do you need me to take you anywhere else before I leave for the arena?"

"Everything appears to be in walking distance so I think we can manage," she said. "But thanks."

Della rolled her bags through the lobby. There were a few fans in the area but they were too focused on Seth to notice them. The elevator opened to reveal Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel and him. She tried her best to look unbothered. She held her head high with confidence and gave him a polite nod as she brushed by him.

 **Joe: You didn't tell me u'd be on the road wit us.**

 **Della: Y would I? So u could ignore that 2?**

 **Joe: I'm sorry. I was struggling with what happened.**

 **Della: Cool story, bro.**

"If we put on a pair of sunglasses and a hat, do you think we can sneak to Applebees?" Della asked Marina.

"I think we'll be okay. All the wrestling fans in the area are probably loading into the arena by now," Marina replied.

"...and a perfect patron margarita," Della said handing the menu back to the waitress.

"How do you think they'll have us debut? Do we attack them backstage? Do we do a run in during their match?" Marina wondered.

"I have no idea but I'm excited," Della chirped. "This is the way I always saw my main roster debut, with you."

"I know right. I would've been so lost stuck in NXT without you if you didn't take the pin."

"It all worked out in the end. Now we have to do a good job with this angle so they never try to separate us again. Even if we aren't a team, we need to show them how well we work together so we can be kept on the same brand when we are called up officially."

 **HHH: Made it in okay?**

 **Della: Sure did.**

 **HHH: Are you in hiding? You know you can't be spotted and spoil the storyline.**

 **Della: Yep. No worries. We're safe and sound in our hotel. :-)**

 **HHH: *image* Why am I looking at you two?**

Della looked around and saw Triple H and Stephanie sitting at a table across the room. He waved. Della looked over at Marina. "Oh shit, I think we should get it to go."

A lot of footsteps were heard coming through the halls of the hotel later that night. Marina looked up. "I guess the house show is over and they've made it back."

Della's phone vibrated on her pillow. Joe. She let it ring. He called again and she sent it straight to voicemail. He tried to facetime her and she ignored that too.

 **Joe: Okay, I get it.**

 **Della: No, u don't & I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me alone. I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow & I don't need any distractions.**

* * *

Della knocked on the women's locker room door. Alexa opened it.

"Main roster women only, right?" Della asked smugly, holding up her badge that read: _Delecia Jennings 'Della Stone', RAW talent_. Alexa stepped aside.

"Della, you look beautiful," Nattie complimented. Della made sure to do her makeup at the hotel in advance to avoid going on national TV looking like a clown.

"Which one of you are hooking up with Seth," Monica asked.

"Eww, neither," Marina stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"What's the eww for?" Sasha asked. "He's a nice guy."

Della and Marina changed into street clothing instead of gear since they weren't getting into the ring tonight. They were on their way to gorilla when they were stopped by Vince.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Gorilla," they replied.

"No, we're doing something different tonight," he said and gave them instructions.

They walked through the concession area wearing oversized hoodies covering their head because if they walked in plain sight fans would have their pictures on every social media platform spoiling their debut.

Della was dizzy as she overlooked the arena from the top. "We're really high."

"I just remembered I'm afraid of heights," Marina whispered.

"Where was this fear when you were moonsaulting off of a 15 feet high balcony on to me?"

"What is 15 feet compared to this! And I had you down on the floor taking the move and catching me. If I come tumbling down here, who's going to catch me?"

"The members of the WWE Universe?" Della snorted.

"Oh please, the only catching they'll be doing is catching the footage while they're filming the fall live on Instagram," Marina laughed.

"I hope they don't do that stupid 'NXT' chant. We've only been there a minute. A second for me since I've only been featured on two episodes."

The match tonight was Sasha, Bayley and Ember vs Alexa, Mickie and Monica.

"Damn, I forgot my ticket!" Marina began panicking. "I left it on top of my bag in the locker room."

"You did but I got it," Della said, pulling two tickets out of her bra and handing one to Marina. "Do we have a cue?"

"No, I think we just start walking," Marina shrugged and took one step down. They'd walked down one level by the time surrounding fans noticed. Production put a spotlight on them and that's when the entire arena popped. Della kept her head down the entire time, she was shaking trying to keep her balance. She didn't know how Roman and the Shield did this every show without stumbling during their run. Marina was holding onto the railing for dear life.

Della didn't feel comfortable until they started walking through the floor seats. They showed security their tickets and security cleared a space for the right up front.

Their directive for this segment was excessive, loud and obnoxious cheering.

"Yaassssss Sasha," Della stood, yelling.

"Come on Bayley!" Marina shouted, clapping.

Sasha walked over to the turnbuckle to yell at them and that's when Monica got her from behind for a roll up. 1..2..3. They exchanged glares.

"Payback's a bitch, huh?" Della said loud enough for the cameras to hear before disappearing through the crowd.

They walked back through the curtain and Mr. McMahon was waiting on them. "We had to cut a segment out which means we have time to add another. When we come back from commercial I want to get a shot of you two walking and talking casually which will lead to an interview with Charly."

"Do we have a script?" Marina raised a brow.

"No time for a script. I don't care what you say just don't drop any f-bombs or major curse words, Della," he replied giving her a stern look. "It's live TV."

"We'll be back live in 45 seconds, Mr. McMahon," the camera guy notified.

The cameraman set up right in front of them. He counted down with his fingers. 5-4-3-2-1 and the light went red and the camera began backing up as they walked forward.

"I guess they're friends again this week," Marina laughed.

"They've been flip flopping with this best frenemies shi...crap for far too long. It's getting old. I guess that's what happens when you have no direction and lose steam," Della commented. "We can't relate."

Charly appeared, walking alongside them. "The WWE Universe is buzzing about your appearance here tonight. Is there a particular reason you showed up in the audience tonight?"

"Marina and I decided to be charitable tonight," Della started.

"Yeah, we love helping the less fortunate," Marina added.

Della took it from there. "Let's be honest, neither of them have the star power or fan support that they had after their debuts."

"Unless they're in one of their hometowns, the crowds just don't care anymore," Marina pointed out. "Can you blame them, though? Sasha and Bayley are just...there."

"Exactly!" Della said. "They needed support out there tonight and we gave it to them. Somebody has to show them that they're not an afterthought and lost in the shuffle among the Alexa's, Rhonda's and Charlotte's of the division."

"But, D, they are!"

"Marina!" Della elbowed her, laughing. "We're supposed to be making them feel better about themselves!"

"Oh yeah, sorry! You know, Charly, I thought this was Monday Night Raw but every time we see those two they're carrying on backstage like it's the _Young and the Titleless_ or _All My Divas_ ," Marina said, putting her arm around Della's shoulder. "Well we're the Bold and the Bitchy and we're here to cancel them."

"And cut," the cameraman said and they camera went back to the ring.

"That Bold and Bitchy line was kind of cringe, huh?" Marina asked.

"No...well, maybe but it's better than whatever scripted bullshit they would've given us to recite," Della shrugged. "So am I the Bold or Bitchy?"

"Both," Marina laughed.

"I'm just excited that we're finally wrestling someone on our level. No holding back, no slowing down, big spots," Sasha had her head down on Youtube looking at spots from indie matches. Alexa looked up and rolled her eyes. Sasha had a history of risky spots and that scared Della. She didn't want to be responsible for Sasha hurting herself. Still, she was very excited for the match because like Della, everyone's best match was with Sasha.

Della walked out of the lockerroom to stop by catering and ran into Roman. He paused his steps momentarily and looked like he wanted to say something but changed his mind and kept walking. It may have had something to do with Bobby Lashley lurking in the background.

Raw had been over for a good thirty minutes and the backstage area had been pretty much abandoned but Seth was their ride and he had a dark match with Roman against Ziggler and McIntyre so they had to wait.

"Ready to go?" Seth asked when he was dressed.

"Whenever you are," Della replied, rolling her suitcase. Roman was having a conversation with one of the refs when he noticed them. Della saw him look at Rollins and then back at her with confusion. They continued out to the parking lot.

"Hello," Seth stopped to answer his phone. "What? I don't have anything going on with either, man. We just happened to be in the rental place at the same time and I offered to let them ride with me."

"Oh God," Della sighed.

Seth slid his phone into his back pocket. "That was weird."

"What?"

"Joe just asked me what I had going on with you girls," he revealed.

"Yeah, that is weird," Marina bumped Della.

Seth loaded their bags in the the trunk. They were reading to go when they heard a knock on the Della's window. Roman.

"What the hell?" Seth blurted out.

"Seth, please don't let down the wind.." Della started but it was too late. She was face to face with him now. "What do you want?"

"You aren't answering your phone so I had to get to you some kind of way," Roman explained.

"Just like you didn't answer your phone last week," she countered.

"Wait, what am I missing here?" Seth sounded confused.

Roman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, Delesia, you've punished me for long enough."

"Punish you?" Della screamed at him. "Do you think that's what this is? No, I punished myself last week over you."

"That's right!" Marina gave her a pat on the back.

"I cried, Joe. After that, I made a promise to myself that I would never let you make me feel like shit again and I'm not going back on it. I'm not a weak bitch and I don't want to turn into one over you!"

He took a step back. "I know I hurt you and I'm sorry. Hearing that I made you cry makes me feel awful. I hate that you had to go through that. I told you last week that I was struggling with my feelings and then you went and did _that_. What happened in that room was not my fault and I was having a hard time processing it after the fact."

"No, it wasn't in your fault but you enjoyed every second of it and the reason you're chasing me down out here now is because deep down you want it again. You know what your problem is? You want to think that you're such a good man and maybe you are but you made me feel cheap in the process. Just admit it, it makes you feel better when I come to you, when I make the first move so you can still maintain in your conscience that you're innocent. _'It's not me, it's her. She's the one who seduced me. I had no other choice but to go along with it. I'm just a poor, defenseless nearly 300 pound Samoan!_ ' Well, I'm never coming to you again. You want me, you make the first move but you're a coward so that's not going to happen," Della let window up and looked over at Seth who appeared to be in shock. "Drive!"

The ride back to the hotel was quiet and awkward. Marina and Seth were whispering to each other on the elevator. Della showered and browsed Twitter and wrestling forums to see the response to their debut. It was praised.

A knock on the door took her attention away from her iPad. She looked through the peephole and saw Seth standing there with his hands in his pockets. She opened the door. "Hey, I'm here for Marina."

"O...kay," Della raised a brow and went over to the bathroom where Marina was. "Do you have plans with Seth tonight?"

"Yeah, we're going down to the hotel bar for a drink," Marina said, pressing her lips together in the mirror.

* * *

 **Marina's POV.**

"I can't believe you actually came out," Seth said as they started down the hallway.

"It's just a drink, bud, calm down," Marina replied. His douchey vibes weren't as strong as before but they were still there.

"Do you think Della will be okay alone?" he said, sounding concerned.

"She'll be fine. I'm really proud of her for putting her foot on his neck tonight. Hopefully that's the end of this dark chapter in her life," Marina said. She hated to see her best friend sad and acting out of character over a married man. Della deserved much better than that. It angered her that Della tossed a nice guy like Elias aside because Marina knew deep down that Della was doing it to keep herself available to Roman.

The elevator closed behind Seth. "Why don't I know you? I know everyone who came through the independent scene from 05 until 2010 when I got signed."

"That's because 2010 was the year I started making a name for myself," she explained. "You were long gone by the time my career got hot."

"It's still pretty hot and so are you," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes in response. "I didn't agree to go with you to get hit on all night. We came down here to gossip, no more no less."

"You must have a boyfriend."

"Or I'm just not interested as I've told you before," she said stepping off of the elevator on the first floor. The lobby was empty and she was glad because the last thing she needed was Rollins fangirls after her if a picture leaked.

"You are too damn beautiful to be so damn mean."

"Your voice is too damn nasally to talk so damn much," she returned to him.

"Oh wow," Seth scoffed in disbelief as they approached the bar. "What are you drinking?"

"Vodka and orange juice," she replied.

"Alright, the lady will have a screwdriver and I'll just take a beer," he ordered. The bar was pretty empty so the drinks came back fast. "I for one am shocked at both. I've never heard of Della hooking up with anyone and Joe was always the good one when we were together. The two most unlikely people, how did this happen?"

"It's a long story but do you remember the night we were on the elevator together?"

"Yeah."

"We were actually supposed to get off on the same floor because Roman invited her to his room. We didn't get off with because we didn't want you in our business...and now you are. Cheers," Marina held her glass up and he met it with his glass.

"He's big on family and never misses an opportunity to talk about his wife or whip out a picture of the boys and of course he's crazy about his daughter so I didn't think he'd ever do anything like this. Do you know how many gorgeous women, 10s I've seen throw themselves at Joe over the years?"

"A zillion?"

"A zillion and one," he confirmed. "Do you know how many he's given a second glance?"

"None."

"Well, one apparently," he shook his head. "Wait until I tell Ambrose."

"You better not!"

"What? He's cool."

"He may be but Renee is not. The second she hears about it, it's going to be all over the women's locker room and if that Elias incident is any indication, those bitches are quick ice someone out. Della is extremely sensitive even though she pretends to be tough."

"I can believe it," he said taking a swig. "We're having a good time, right?"

Marina snapped her neck to look at him, offended. "Sir, it is going to take more than one screwdriver to get me drunk enough to come to your room. Plus, anyone who has internet access can see what you have to offer and it's not enticing."

"Actually, I was speaking in general but since you brought it up, hasn't anyone told you it's not the size of the boat, it's the motion in the ocean?" he cleared his throat.

"You don't look like you have much motion either," she mumbled. "Hell, you drove Zahra to women so you must be doing bad."

"Haha, funny," he replied sarcastically. "First of all, Zahra is as much a lesbian as you are."

"But I'm not a lesbian…"

"Exactly," he winked. "She's a leech trying to stay on _my_ radar and poor Sonya can't even see it. Does that sound like I'm doing bad if someone goes to that extreme."

"The girl sounds psychotic so don't pat yourself on the back over what sounds like the makings of a Lifetime movie."

"What would it be called?"

" _The Girl He Cheated With Onlin_ e or _Fatal Attraction 2: Tattoos, Swastikas & Lesbians_," she laughed.

"And who'd play me?"

"Hmm, I don't know. I guess someone could inject Avan Jogia with steroids. He's pretty attractive, I guess."

"Ah, so you're attracted to me," he smiled.

"I am? Acknowledging someone as attractive and being attracted to them is two entirely different things," Marina stated. She couldn't deny that he was cute and his body was sexy and now that she was actually talking to him he seemed like a decent guy but she didn't think she was attracted to him.

"Yeah, at least I think you are. I feel like you shit on me as a defense mechanism. You give me a hard time because of the guy you think I am. All of that stuff you're silently judging me on happened years ago and I've grown up a lot and changed since then," he pleaded his case.

"Are you sure about that?" Marina asked.

"Very," he replied confidently.

"Dude, isn't Sarah your live in girlfriend? Unlike Della, I am not interested in being a side chick," she burst his bubble.

Seth took a drink and went quiet for a moment. He turned over his empty bottle. "How about another round?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Marina shook her head, amused.

* * *

Della looked at the time on her phone. 1:28 AM. She was slowly falling asleep when she heard a knock. She wondered if Marina forgot her key or was too drunk to look for it in her purse. She swung it open without looking through the hole and unless Marina got really Samoan really fast, it wasn't her. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," he said, walking in and closing the door behind himself. Della walked over to the bed and he followed her. "Delesia, I care about you, a lot. The reason I reacted the way I did last week was because I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"When we hooked up four years ago, I liked you immediately but it was still meaningless, empty sex because I didn't know you. Now I do and every time I'm around you my feelings grow stronger and so does my desire to have you. The moment you touched my dick I felt it and not just sexually. It's uncomfortable knowing that I feel this way about someone other than my wife," he confessed.

"Why can't you have me?"

"What do you mean, why? I just said 'my wife'," he replied.

"Are you planning on leaving your wife?"

"No, never, of course not."

"I know this and I'd never put pressure on you to leave her or your family. Do you think I'd ever expose you even if we ended on a bad note?"

"No."

"Have I ever dropped any hints about us? Do I tweet you, retweet you or even follow you? Do I name drop you?"

"No."

"And I won't start doing it either. No one knows and no one has to know. Now that that's been established what's stopping us?"

"This," he said tapping his heart.

"That brought you to my room tonight, didn't it, Joe," she replied. "How does the saying go? Follow your heart...or at least your dick."

He looked at her with intense hunger and bit his lip. Still, he was hesitating.

"I told you, I'm not making the first move. If you want me, _you_ have to initiate," she demanded.

Roman complied, leaning forward to kiss her, sucking her upper lip into his mouth. He took the kiss deeper, parting her lips skillfully and sliding his tongue inside her mouth. She met his tongue with hers, stroking alongside it until she felt him respond by moving his hands to grip her hips. He yanked her forward to aligned her center to his. And he was hard. His erection strained against his sweatpants, she could feel the heat of it through her panties.

"Wait," she pulled back. "I have some terms and conditions."

"Do we have to do this now?" he dropped his forehead to hers while he sucked in breath.

"Yes, before I wake up alone and end up crying again," she said. "Number one, you can't abandon me in a hotel room without word anymore. I don't care if you just tap me on the shoulder while I'm half sleep just to say you're gone. Number two, I'm never going to contact you when you're home but when you're on the road, please don't ignore me. I don't want to feel what I felt last week ever again. Number three, please...fuck me..."

"I think I can comply with all three, especially the third," Roman kissed a path back down her face; forehead, temple, cheeks, lips.

He laid her down flat on the pillow and hovered above her. He kicked his sweatpants down with urgency and she did the same with her panties. There was no foreplay. There was no need for it. She was ready. Roman closed his eyes as he made his entrance inside of her, releasing a guttural groan.

"She missed me," he chuckled.

"We both missed you, Daddy," she said, leaning up to kiss him. It felt wonderful to have him in her again after all these years. She thrusted her hips forward to be sure that he was in as far as possible. That's when she realized... "Joe, you're not wearing a condom."

He didn't miss a beat, stroke rather. "Are you on birth control?"

"Yes, for cramps."

"Okay, no worries."

* * *

 **Meanwhile….**

"Della's probably one of the best I've ever seen man or woman but I prefer watching your matches," Seth said.

"I wonder if the leotard sliding up my ass every bump has anything to do with that," she teased.

"Well, that is a bonus but no, I'm serious. When she comes out you know it's going to be epic but I find you much more exciting. You go up to that top rope and do things I've never seen before."

"I've noticed that you've stolen quite a few of my moves. They always look sloppy when you do them…"

"Try to give you a compliment and this is how you do me. Man, I tell ya," she shook his head as the elevator opened on their floor. "We should do this again sometime."

"Eh, I don't know. Maybe if I need someone to vent to about them since you're in the know now but hopefully there is no more them," Marina replied. She reached her room and went for her key. As she slid it into the slot she thought she heard a light moan. She listened again and didn't hear anything. She was thinking it was her imagination until she heard a deep groan.

"What?" he asked.

"Shhh!" she said, pressing a finger to her lip. She opened the door quietly and entered on her tiptoes. Seth was on her trail.

Marina was horrified to find Roman mounting Della from behind and as he did, he leaned down to whisper something in his ear. Marina couldn't understand what he said but Della responded with a moan.

Marina closed the door and shook her head. She didn't have the energy to confront them and decided not to mention it in the morning. This Roman affair was something Della was going to have to deal with _alone_ , heart ache and pain included. She was removing herself from the situation.

"I don't know about you but I'm aroused," Seth commented. "Let's sneak back in there."

"No. I'm gagging at the few seconds we did see."

"What are you going to do?"

"Wait them out I guess," Marina shrugged, sinking down against the wall outside of her room.

"Did you see that passion? They have a lot of catching up to do and will probably go all night," he sunk down on the floor beside her and sighed. "Look, if you promise to stay on your side, I'll let you sleep with me tonight."

Marina contemplated it for a moment. "The second your body makes contact with mine, I don't care if it's your foot at 3 AM, I swear I'm sliding out of your bed and into Sarah's DM. And please, if you must masturbate to your Shield brother getting off, do it in the bathroom."

* * *

 **I've been getting requests for Seth/Marina interactions so there...**


	8. Chapter 8

"Ready to go, girls?" Seth asked Friday evening as he loaded their rental car.

Della slid in the back and left the door open but to her surprise Marina climbed into the front with Seth. Those two talked all the way to Columbus, Georgia, the location of that night's house show.

Marina went up to the front desk and began talking with the front desk clerk. Della really wasn't paying attention until she heard. "...one bed suite."

"One bed?" Della repeated behind her.

"Just a second, ma'am," Marina said, pulling Della aside. "You know I love you but never again will I pay half on a room that I didn't even get to sleep in. I'm sure having your own room will be more convenient for you now anyway."

Della detected shade and now the atmosphere was awkward. That night Della didn't think about Marina's missing presence until after 4AM. She just assumed Marina checked into another room. The next morning Marina never mentioned it and Della certainly wasn't going to bring it up.

Della also got a one bedroom. She was unpacking a few of her things when she heard a knock on the adjoining door. When she opened it Marina was standing there.

Della laughed. "I knew you couldn't stay that far away from me."

"You're equally codependent so let's not go there," Marina replied, handing Della a key card.

"What's this for?"

"You usually have custody of the keys when we room together. Since I almost lost my ticket last week I'm going to give you a spare to my room in case I lose it too," Marina explained. "I'm about to shower and start getting ready."

 **Joe: Made it in yet?**

 **Della: Yep, getting situated in my room now.**

 **Joe: We're about 10 minutes out.**

 **Della: & just so u kno, Marina dumped me so I have the room 2 myself.**

 **Joe: Room number?**

 **Della: 666**

 **Joe: 0_o**

 **Della: Lol, ikr but maybe it's appropriate since we will be doing some devilish things in here. ;-)**

 **Joe: Leave the door cracked.**

Della was so excited and anxious to see him. Memories of how she felt last Monday night flooded her brain and she was instantly aroused. That was also their last contact with each other since he left her early Tuesday morning. She took a quick shower, dressed in a pair of bra and panties and then, blew dry her hair.

About fifteen minutes later Roman entered her room with his bags in tow. Della squealed, she jumped off the bed and ran to him. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Della leaned forward to kiss him, hoping it conveyed how much she missed him. Roman walked her to the bed and sat with her on his lap.

"Where's your room?"

"Here. Why waste time being apart when we'll just end up in each other's bed anyway?" Roman asked.

"That's true but are you sure?" Della's eyebrows knitted. "It's a bit risky, don't you think? If nothing else you should get a room just for show."

"Nobody's going around asking every superstar what their room number is. As long as we don't walk in or out of that door together, we're fine."

"I guess," Della sighed, tracing his goatee with her finger. "I missed you."

"Yeah, I thought about you," he replied. Della didn't actually expect him to miss her but being a thought was good enough. When she went home she was alone in the house with Marina and Sadie. When he went home he was in the company of his wife and children. He didn't get much time with them in the first place so when he was there he probably cherished the moment.

As she sat there, she felt a bump forming underneath her. Della smiled devilishly and began slowly riding up and down on him with her thin panties and his jeans separating them.

"Not that I'm complaining but are we in Jr. High?" he groaned as she squirmed and writhed on top of him.

"No but we leave for the house show in less than an hour and this is the best we can do," she replied.

Roman's breath hitched as he felt up and down her hips and thighs. Della didn't know if she could call it dry humping anymore because she was beginning to soak through her cotton underwear.

"Right there," Roman said, holding her hips in place on his lap to stop her up and down movements. "Don't bounce, just grind down on it. Yes, just like that. I'm almost there."

The connecting door open suddenly, causing Roman to jump.

"Just found out that we'll be facing…" Marina began before catching sight of them. Her voice switched to a drier tone. "...Dana Brooke and Alicia Fox tonight. Can I borrow your flat iron?"

"Sure," Della replied.

Marina disappeared in the bathroom and came out. She didn't look at them again as she went back to her side and slammed the door.

"She hates me," Roman chuckled.

"Yeah, I think she does but she'll get over it if only for my sake," Della replied. "Did you finish?"

"No, the angry latina walking in and giving me death glares kind of killed the mood," he said.

* * *

They arrived at the house show at around 7:30. They were set to go on after the guys from 205 Live.

Della was excited to take part in her first Raw live event. The crowd was hype when they walked out. Marina got a home state reception since she was from Georgia. Marina and Alicia kicked things off. Marina tagged Della in to the sound of a big pop.

Della wasn't even capable of carrying Dana because Dana was moving entirely too fast and too sloppy for Della to keep up. When Della ran off the ropes Dana threw her over her shoulders for a back body drop that Della wasn't ready for. Della landed wrong on her right shoulder. The sharp pain was enough to make her cry out and she immediately grabbed her shoulder, wallowing around on the canvas.

Marina jumped in the ring and went low next to Della. "Are you selling?"

"Selling this hard for Dana fucking Brooke?! Hell no!" Della exclaimed. "I think it's broken or at least fractured."

"Ref!" Marina yelled.

The ref ran over and grabbed it, sending Della into another round of pain.

"Don't touch it!" she hissed at him.

"Sorry," the ref said, making an X with his arms to signal to the medical aids that this was a legit injury. The crowd went quiet as Della was helped to the back.

When they walked back through the curtains Roman was casually standing there even though there were four more matches before his main event with Seth vs Dolph and McIntyre. He didn't even have his vest on yet. He looked very concerned and was shifting uneasily in his boots. She smiled through her pain knowing that he cared.

Her shoulder was X-rayed and she was waiting on the doctor to return with the results when a knock came on the door. Dana peaked her head in.

"I'm so sorry," Dana said. "I guess I was trying to show off now that I was working with someone on your level and was in over my head."

"That's okay. I don't place the blame on my opponent for any injury I sustain. I just charge it to the game because at the end of the day, when you step between those ropes, you risk injury from small to career ending," Della tried to shrug which did nothing but aggravate her shoulder. She grimaced in pain.

When the doctor returned she learned that her shoulder was neither broken nor fractured. The bone was bruised though which was going to cause a lot of pain, swelling, discoloration and muscle stiffness. She could also work though it as long as she was careful.

"Have you been drinking today?" he asked.

"No, nothing," she replied.

"Okay, I'm going to inject you with oxycodone and valium," he informed.

"What's the valium for?"

"To relax the muscle."

Della walked out of the room floating on cloud 9. The pain was gone and she was in a state of euphoria.

Roman was backstage in the area pacing back and forth. He was sweaty and his hair was down which told her that he'd wrestled his match and the show was over. He stopped when he saw her, looking around to make sure no one was in the area before approaching. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great," she grinned, stumbling a little. "What time is it?"

"10:05," he replied. "I got your bag from Marina so you don't have to waste time going back to the locker room. We're going to the same place anyway."

They separated and Della went out to the parking garage.

"I'm sure you know Roman took your bag but I have your purse," Marina said, handing it to her.

"Thanks," Della unzipped it, looking inside to see her phone, her room key and Marina's spare key.

"Seth is taking us to my parents' house before we caught the flight to Tallahassee in the morning."

"Do I have to go," Della whined.

"What? No, you don't have to come but you always do. What makes tonight any different?" Marina challenged, sounding offended.

"Marina, every time your parents call, I make time to have a conversation with them and keep them up to date with our shenanigans. Every time we come anywhere near Georgia, I stop by with you. What is missing this one time going to hurt?" Della replied. "It's an hour long drive from here to their place. I hurt my shoulder tonight and they injected me with meds. I'm high as fuck and I just want to go to the hotel!"

"I bet when you get to the hotel you're going to let him twist you and your injured shoulder in every position known to Samoan man," Marina snapped.

"What's the point of saying him discreetly if you're going to turn around and say Samoan in the same sentence? There are only 3 and the other 2 are on Smackdown," Della hissed.

"Whatever, let's just go," Marina stormed off.

The ride to the hotel was silent until Seth turned on the radio to some rock station. He pulled up to the hotel entrance and Della got out just as the other Superstars were filling in the lobby. She stepped on the elevator with Sasha, Finn, Bayley, Curtis, Bo and Titus. It was stuffed.

"Everybody going to the same floor?" Titus asked before pushing a number.

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yep," Della confirmed and Titus pushed the button on the pad.

It wasn't until the elevator started moving that Della remembered she and Roman were sharing a room. There was no way she could get off on another floor after confirming her floor. It would look very suspicious. When she glanced over at Roman, she could tell he was thinking the same. As a matter of fact he didn't even have the key to their room. That's when she thought about Marina's spare key which would solve both problems. She looked up again and offered a very slight smile of reassurance. Two problem were resolved and now she found another. Her duffel bag that he carried had a keychain clipped to the zipper. A silver D and a silver weed plant. She stared at it and he followed her eyes and adjusted it to conceal the charms.

Finn was the first one off when the door opened and the others followed. Roman dragged behind enough for Della to slide her room key into his hand. He then picked up his pace and walked ahead. Roman stopped at their door and went in.

Della stopped at Marina's room and pulled out the spare.

"How's that shoulder?" Sasha asked, stopping at her door across the hall. "Is our Summerslam match in jeopardy?"

"Nope, it's just a bruised bone. I'll be ready by then."

"Lucky you, next to him," Sasha said. "You should take one for the team and sneak in his room."

Della tilted her head. "Weren't you one of the main ones salty because you thought I hooked up with Elias?"

"If you bagged Roman no one would even be mad. Mad with envy, maybe," Sasha replied with a laugh. "That's a prize."

"Yeah sure," Della said, laughing it off. "I bet it'd be worth it but it wouldn't be worth me walking around with the homewrecker label for the rest of my career."

"You're right about that. It's been a year since the Bray, Jojo fiasco and she _just_ turned her Instagram comments back on..."

"If you're woman enough to break up a family, be woman enough to take the heat that comes with it," Della shook her head, inserting her key into the slot. "Now if Roman's family happened to break up on its own, I'll have no problem sliding over there."

"If that ever happened I think you'd have to pick a number and wait in line," Sasha said.

"Eh, I don't do lines. Besides, he's getting fat and has a dad bod now," Della snorted, disappearing inside of Marina's room.

Marina had clothes and jewelry scattered everywhere and there was a burning scent in the air. Della went to the bathroom and found that Marina left her flat iron on.

Della opened the middle door and saw Roman sitting with his back turned. She was getting ready to open her mouth to tell him about her exchange with Sasha when he turned around with the phone pressed to his ear, obviously talking to his wife.

"Yeah, we fly out of here tomorrow at 6. Oh, we can take care of that when I get home. No problem," he said and went on to talk for another fifteen minutes. "I love you too, baby. Kiss the kids for me. Goodnight."

Della didn't say anything when he hung up the phone. She didn't know whether to give him time to switch out of husband/daddy mode or what. It just felt awkward. She silently went around the room and bathroom gathering her things and packing her bag so she didn't have to do it in the morning when they woke for their flight.

"Why are you so quiet?" he inquired softly. She heard him take a few steps forward and felt the warmth of his body behind her. She felt him lean into her as he grabbed a hold of her waist and pressed his warm lips against her ear. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm still high," she laughed.

"Didn't we recently have a conversation about prescription drugs? I better not find out you landed bad on purpose," she joked. "Had me worried and shit for nothing."

"Yeah, the smart thing to do when you receive a major push alongside your best friend going into the second biggest pay per view of the year is fuck yourself up on purpose."

"Hey, you could've potentially lost an eye letting Monica bust you wide open for the purpose of staying away from me and now look at you. _Can't_ stay away from me," he laughed, picking her up bridal style and headed to the bed. "I don't know what you're capable of."

"This," she leaned up and captured his lips between hers. Roman opened his mouth and she gently engaged his tongue. She reached down and grabbed his dick through his jeans. She tried to unzip them but he stopped her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What do you think?"

"I'm not having sex with you," he shook his head, smirking.

"Why not?"

"You're hurt and if that arm isn't broken it will be when I put my weight on it since I'm _fat now with a dad bod_ ," he said humorously.

"Joe, you know you're fine as hell but I said what I said to keep down suspicion. They can't accuse me of having an affair with someone I don't find that attractive, right?" she laughed.

"Good girl. Back to the original topic, you're also high. What if you pass out during while I'm on top of you? That's just weird," he said.

"Can't I just get on top of you…?"

"Delesia, you know I enjoy your company, don't you?"

"I'd hope so," she replied.

"I do which is why I want you to know that I like being with you outside of sex and I don't want you to feel like you _have_ to have sex with me when we're together," Roman told her.

Della chuckled, shaking her head. "You know women have sexual desires and needs outside of wanting to please you men, right? I'm doing this for me. Have you seen yourself? Am I wrong for wanting to do you?"

"In your condition the only thing you should be doing is sleeping," he said, putting her head on a pillow. He reached over and grabbed a pillow from his side of the bed to put underneath her shoulder. The meds plus the pillow automatically sent her into a light sleep.

Della woke shortly after to the feeling of a warm tongue sliding in and out of her. Smiling, she reached to cradle his head closer to him.

"I changed my mind. If you're up for it of course," he said below her.

"I think you mean open for it and yes, I am," she said, spreading her legs open further to give him further access.

The only sound in the room was her heavy breathing and the sound of the tongue lapping at her pussy. You could hear the smacking as his tongue fucked in and out of her. He flattened his tongue on her clit, swirling, sucking and licking it for all it was worth. Her legs went stiff and her ass lifted off the bed. Her orgasm was so strong that she was having trouble catching her breath. He kept lightly kissing her clit while she came back to Earth.

"Which is the bad shoulder?" he asked.

"The right."

He settled himself on her left side and turned over to face her. He gently rolled her on her left side so they were facing each other. Roman raised her top leg and put it over his. He moved towards her and she felt his dick bobbing against her thighs. She shifted herself so that she was at the right angle for him to insert.

"Give it to me," she whispered and he obliged, pushing forward piercing her with his tip. She pushed down, allowing him to enter her wet channel fully. Her muscles contract around him and he groans.

"Are you okay?" Roman asked, nodding at her shoulder.

"It's fine," she moaned, throwing her head back. He took this opportunity to lower his mouth to her neck, kissing it and sucking it with a few bites.

They fucked slowly but passionately taking their time. Roman easing in and out of Della with long slow thrusts as she raised herself up to meet him. There was no thrashing or pounding, just firm, slow deep thrusts providing pleasure for both of them. They said little to each other, besides him occasionally checking on her shoulder, the fucking was accompanied by one long passionate kiss.

His eyes were focused on her face and Della opened hers to see the intensity, the need in those brown orbs. Closing his eyes, he stroked faster and deeper and she felt him tense just before he came inside of her. His release triggered hers and they came together.

Roman rolled over onto his back, taking Della with him, still planted inside of her. She could feel him still pulsing from his orgasm, still hard.

"Round 2?" she smirked.

* * *

"I can't wait until the day comes when he decides he wants to be an honest husband and father again. When she comes crying to me I'm going to hit her with, _'Della, I've been there for almost all of the Joe saga, what is ignoring this one time going to hurt'_?" Marina ranted.

"To be fair, she is drugged up. Had she gone if she wasn't knocked out by the time we made it, she'd be of no use," Seth replied.

"Oh please she's probably fucking Roman as we speak. I'm sure she could've managed."

"I'm not even going to touch on that."

"If I could go back to that night four years ago…" Marina sighed.

"You wouldn't have blown me off?"

"Nah, I probably would've blown you off harder."

"That sounds sexy," he chuckled. "There's no putting the genie back into the bottle for this situation. The best thing you can do is let their fling run its course and it will in time I'm sure."

"I'm sure it will but at what expense?"

"I thought you were done with them?"

"I am done with them. I walked in on them again earlier and didn't react. They were just dry humping like kids anyway which is nothing compared to what we saw last week. Della skipping out on my parents really triggered me though and I'm back on it!"

"Stop focusing on who isn't here and focus on who is," he said. "Sarah asked about us."

"Us? Who is us?" Marina's head swerved. "And what did she say?"

"Fans took pictures of us arriving at the house show today and of course the photos made their rounds on social media and fans started tagging her asking had we broken up," Seth revealed. "Naturally, any concerned girlfriend would ask what the hell am I doing riding around with two beautiful women."

"What did you tell her? Let me guess, Della and I have to buy our own rental now," Marina rolled her eyes.

"No, I told her the truth…"

"Which is?"

"You can't stand me and Della doesn't date wrestlers. Both half-truths but still."

"Just because I'm giving you a little conversation doesn't mean I can stand you now," she shot back. "Anyway, she actually bought it?"

"Of course, we've been together for quite some time now and she trusts me."

"Poor girl," Marina shook her head. "Turn here."

Marina saw the blinds move since they were expecting her. She heard Seth's seatbelt click loose. She turned to him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Do you really think I'm going to drive an hour to the hotel just drive back to come get you? And I'm definitely not going to sit out here," he said looking around at the darkness.

"I'll have you know that my family lives in a very nice neighborhood! You can sit here all night with a wallet full of cash and no one would bother you."

"Yeah, no, I'm going in," he said, turning off the car.

About an hour and five embarrassing stories later they were back on the road to the hotel.

"I think they liked me, Marianna," Seth smiled over at her.

"The only reason they did is because they think you're a latino with that deceptive last name, _Mr. Lopez_ ," Marina murmured. "I didn't want to ruin the moment by exposing you as a German, Irish and Armenian cheater and erotic photo model. If I'd said atheist, too, you wouldn't have been allowed to park in our yard."

He sighed. "We're still on that? My stepfather is a latino so while I'm not I'm very familiar with latin culture. I shouldn't be punished for having my privacy invaded with the leak. Yes, I'm an atheist but just because I am doesn't mean I don't respect the beliefs of others."

"No comeback for the cheater then, trying to cheat now thing yet, huh?" Marina fell asleep shortly after and didn't wake up until they pulled into the hotel parking lot. She opened the door of the car, stepping out to yawn.

"What? No thank you?"

"Thank you, Seth."

"You know you can call me Colby, right?"

"Colby sounds like a dog's name which is actually fitting but I'll stick with Seth."

The hotel was pretty much empty as they walked through the lobby and rode the elevator up to their floor.

Marina was greeted with the sounds of muffled moans and deep breathing when she entered her room. She shook her head as she went around her room cleaning up and packing her bags. When that was over, she turned off the light and walked out of the room.

She knocked on a door down the hall and Seth came to the door shirtless. "Can I room with you again? I don't want to listen to Roman removing pride, self-respect and any traces of a soul from Della's body all night."

"Sure," he said, stepping aside.

* * *

Della whimpered as she woke up Saturday morning to pain in her shoulder. It was stiff and she could barely move it.

"How are you feeling?" Roman rolled over to face her.

"It hurts a little," Della said, downplaying the actual pain. When she looked at it, the spot was black and blue underneath her skin.

Roman threw the sheets off of him and climbed out of bed. He went over to her bag and removed her pill bottle and shook it. "I think you need one."

"No, I enjoyed that euphoric feeling a little too much last night and I don't want to risk it."

"Delesia! There's nothing wrong with taking something if you're in actual legit pain and it seems like you are," he pointed out.

"Joe, I said no," she sternly replied. She sat up and swung her legs off the bed. "I'm okay but thank you for trying to take care of me. Let's get on this flight and keep things rolling."

In Tallahassee, FL at Saturday's house show, her shoulder was taped and Marina did most of the work. Della was tagged in for a few minutes, striking with her left arm and delivering knees and kicks before tagging back out and letting Marina pick up the win.

The rest of Saturday was a blur. Sunday night in Daytona Beach, FL, Della and Roman were both exhausted when they arrived back to their hotel room. They woke up Monday morning fully clothed in the same positions they passed out in. He looked at her and she looked at him and they both laughed.

"Thank you," he said, sitting up.

"For?"

"The last three days" he smiled warmly at her and reached over to grab her hand. She couldn't help but smile back. "Life on the road for me is boring after the lights go out in the arena. Of course I have dinner after the shows but I'm not one to go out and party all night like some of the other guys. I always watch my matches back or Netflix until I fall asleep. Having you around has really remedied the loneliness for me."

"Awww, my big baby," she cooed, jumping on top of him to plant kisses all around his face. Once she made it to his lips, he grabbed the back of her head to keep her there and deepened the kiss, his tongue mating with hers.

A booming knock on the door startled both of them. They looked at each other, neither knowing who it could be.

"It's probably Marina," Della said, standing to her feet. She was halfway to the door when she heard two male voices mumbling to each other. She tiptoed to the door and when she looked through the peephole, she saw Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. She quickly ran back to Roman. "It's for you."

His phone rang and he answered on speaker. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing in there? We're ready to knock out this 4 hour drive to Miami," Bo replied.

"I overslept. Give me about fifteen minutes to shower and get packed and I'll be down," Roman said, hanging up without giving them time to respond. He got up and Della heard the shower turn on shortly after he entered the bathroom.

 **Marina: Seth just called. R u ready?**

 **Della: Not quite.**

 **Marina: Me either. He went downstairs 2 eat breakfast so that gives us about 15-20 minutes.**

Della pulled a pair of jeans and a t-shirt out of her bag. She went in the bathroom and brushed her teeth before stepping into the shower with Roman.

"Delesia, please, I really have to go," he groaned.

"What's stopping you," she asked, wetting her hair. "This shower is big enough for the both of us. I have to go too and I don't have time to wait until you finish. I'm not even paying attention to you or touching you."

"No, you're not but you can't stand there with water cascading off of you looking like a meal and not expect me to get distracted."

"Just turn your back," she laughed. He did turn his back but the walls of the shower were mirrored and he kept glancing at her through it. She took the opportunity to caress her body in a sexy manner with shower gel, giggling when he grunted and began stroking himself. When she saw that he was close, she turned around. "You can cum on my ass since we're in the shower anyway."

Roman took the invitation, he rubbed her ass and then pulled her cheeks apart. He rested his dick between her cheeks and pushed them together again, thrusting up and down her crack. It didn't take him long to grunt, releasing a few warm drops on her.

"You better be lucky I have to go. It's not even about Bo and Curtis because they can wait but I have to do a radio appearance to promote the show at 11. But you just wait until tonight," he narrowed his brown eyes. "I promise I'm going to wear that pussy out."

She shivered at his words. "Can't wait."

He stepped out of the shower. A few minutes later, the steam from the shower fogged up the clear glass to the point where Della could only make out a blurred silhouette standing there. She took her hand and rubbed a few streaks. Roman was standing there fully clothed with a duffel bag on his shoulder and a rolling suitcase behind him. She slid the door open.

He leaned in to give her a kiss. When he pulled back he said, "see you at the arena."

* * *

 **HHH: Big surprise tonight for u and Marina tonight.**

 **Della: Tag titles?!**

 **HHH: Lol, no. But you two will officially become a tag team.**

"Apparently we officially become a tag team tonight," Della read aloud in the car with Marina and Seth. "What do you think that means?"

"Names probably," Seth answered. "That's pretty much what they said to me, Ambrose and Reigns before we were named."

"I'm concerned," Marina replied. "Remember when they named Paige, Charlotte and Becky's team Submission Sorority and it turned out to be the name of a porn series?"

"Even if it's not a porn name it'll probably be lame or lazy," Della threw her phone to the side. "Why do we even need a name? They're Bayley and Sasha. Why can't we just be Della Stone and Marina Diaz? We don't need a gimmicky tag team name to get over."

"You two are already over judging by the reactions you got this weekend," Seth said.

They arrived in Miami at a little after 12. They had lunch, checked into the hotel and went to the arena at 5:30.

Della's first stop was the trainer's room.

"How do you feel?" the trainer asked.

"Great. It doesn't hurt that much anymore at all," she lied.

The trainer put pressure on it and she bit down into her bottom lip to keep from screaming. She pressed another spot and she kicked her legs in pain. "Goddamnit!"

He wrote some notes on his clipboard and fitted her in a sling. "You don't need it but it can be used to highlight your injury tonight."

"By any chance do you have a black one?" Della asked. "My ring looks are always dark and depressing. My sling should look no different."

When she opened the door a basket was sitting in the middle of the floor. It contained a get well soon card, flowers, a teddy bear, a bottle of Aleves, and a Walk with Elias album. She looked up and saw Elias with one eye peeking around the corner at her.

"You can come out now," she called.

Elias hesitantly stepped forward. "That's just something I put together after I heard about your shoulder and an apology for _other_ stuff."

"Thank you, Elias. This was very sweet of you to do," she smiled. "I've only been on the road for a week and a half but I see how the atmosphere is and I've heard a lot of gossip, both true and untrue so I now understand how that situation got out of hand."

"Yeah but I was wrong for just brushing it off and I'm sorry," he replied, sounding apologetic. "Now that that's settled, can I go back to trying to win you over every time we cross paths only for you to shut me down?" he asks and she laughs.

"We'll see," she replied. "I'm going to get out of here because last time we were together we hooked up. If someone sees us together again, I'll probably be pregnant with your child."

"And that's a bad thing?" Elias deadpanned.

"Bye," she rolled her eyes, brushing pass him.

"See, just like old times," he said as she walked away.

 **Della: R u in the locker room?**

 **Marina: Office. Come over. Steph & H are here.**

On the way, Della ran into Roman. His eyes went straight to her sling. He reached out to shake her hand.

"A sling. That injury must be getting worse huh? I don't recall you wearing one at the house show yesterday but I probably wasn't paying attention," he casually said.

"It's just a prop," she informed.

"Alright, you take care of yourself, Della," he winked.

Della continued her journey to one of the makeshift offices. Both Stephanie and H looked ready to burst as if they were holding in a juicy secret. Della noticed a box beside Stephanie's chair and wondered if the women were getting tag championships afterall.

"Are you ready?" Stephanie asked and Della as well as Marina nodded. "From this point on you two will be known as The Bold & the Bitchy!"

H and Stephanie looked excited and were expecting them to look excited as well but both Marina and Della's faces were blank with a mix of confusion.

"Is this a joke like the Conchita thing?" Marina blurted.

Triple H opened the box and pulled out a shirt. "They'll go up on the website tonight after you wear them to the ring."

The shirt was white. 'The Bold' was in a cursive black font symbolizing Della. 'The Bitchy' was in a glittery gold font for Marina since she wears gold, glitter bodysuits to the ring. 'D' & 'M' with their respective same color scheme and font was on the back.

"Oh, it's…" Della trailed off not knowing what to say.

"We thought you two would be excited," Stephanie said.

Della didn't want to seem ungrateful and end up benched again, this time taking Marina with her so she decided to speak up. "We are excited and it's a very nice shirt but a name like that seems like it would belong to two women with a mean girl gimmick or something. Marina and I are rough and tough, no bullshit types with a feminine touch."

"That sounds like Bold & Bitchy to me," Stephanie replied.

"Me too, it sums it up perfectly. We also didn't waste all this fabric just to scrape it," Triple H said, tossing them two shirts. "Della, I talked to the trainer you saw a little while ago and apparently you're still in pain. The injury is not serious but we don't want to risk you having a setback or making it worse so no in-ring action for you until Summerslam."

"What are we going to do for the next three weeks if I can't get in the ring?" Della inquired.

"Tonight Marina has a match against Bayley and you can promo against them. Next week they promo against you and Marina will have a match against Sasha. The week after at the go home show to Summerslam, you should be healed enough to brawl with them," he said.

"Can you believe that name?" Marina scoffed as they headed to the women's locker room. "I hope they get sued by CBS or whoever the fuck owns The Bold and The Beautiful."

"You know you're going to get sued as well seeing as you're the one who originally said it," Della snorted.

"Shit!" Marina cursed. "This is all my fault."

"Maybe it'll grow on us," Della replied.

They went to take promo photos so their graphic could flash before their matches. After that, they entered the locker room and started getting dressed since they were going on early in the second hour.

"Apparently you two will be cutting a promo on us tonight," Sasha said.

"Do you know what you're going to say so we can know and be prepared?" Bayley asked.

"No, I don't know yet but I think these things work better when it's not scripted or rehearsed," Della replied.

"That means she's going to shit on us," Sasha muttered.

"No, I just don't like acting. If I tell you that I'm going to call you a cunt in advance you're going to be waiting for that line and respond with a forced overacted facial expression. If you aren't aware you're going to give your natural reaction which comes across better on screen," Della explained. "Trust me I never got warnings before when women went out there and called me everything from overrated to self-serving cunt."

"That self-serving cunt line was from me by the way," Marina claimed proudly.

"And I responded by calling her a spot monkey," Della replied.

"Both still true," Monica added.

"Ronda's here tonight so you know we have to steal the show," Della said to Marina in gorilla.

"I'm ready," Marina nodded.

A recap of Della and Marina's backstage interview played on the screen right before Bayley and Sasha made their entrance first.

Marina's theme played since she was competing and Jojo introduced them. " _Making their way to the ring, the team of Della Stone and Marina Diaz, The Bold and The Bitchy."_

When Della and Marina made their entrance, Della pulled out a needle and stuck one of Bayley's inflatable men, deflating him which the adults in the crowd enjoyed but the kids booed her as she walked up the ramp.

Marina pulled on her shirt to show off the merchandise. Della turned around to give the camera a shot of the back. "Buy it!"

Della settled herself in Marina's corner and Sasha in Bayley's corner.

Marina played up the heel role in this match and played it well. Bayley went up to the top rope and came down for a crossbody but Marina countered it with a dropkick. Marina went to the top rope but Sasha kicked the ropes which made Marina lose her balance and fall to the canvas.

"Don't make take off this sling, Sashit!" Della yelled.

Bayley attempted a hurricanrana but Marina countered it into a powerbomb. Every time Bayley was anywhere near Della's corner, Della battered her with kicks to the back of the head. When the ref turned his back, Della pulled out her needle and was threatening to stick her until the ref looked around and scolded her.

Bayley and Marina entered their closing sequence. Bayley hit the Bayley to belly but Marina kicked out at 2. After the kickout, Bayley tried to fire up. She picked up Marina but Marina kicked Bayley in the gut and hit a Cuban (Canadian) Destroyer out of nowhere and Bayley sold it like a champ. The crowd popped hard for it and a few guys in the front row were trying to get a 'holy shit' chant started.

"That's right! It's back and better than ever!" Marina said before pinning Bayley. Della threw her fingers up in time with the ref's count. 1...2...3.

Sasha slid into the ring to check on Bayley and Della walked up behind her. It wasn't planned but she decided to do it anyway to add drama before their promo. With her left arm, she wrapped it around Sasha's neck for a sleeper hold. She locked it in tight and Sasha brought her hands up to fight out of it but Della didn't relent. Being a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Della was aware that if you cut off the flow of the main artery in a person's neck, they will pass out. She didn't let go until Sasha went limp. From there, Della laid her out in the middle of the ring.

She went ringside and grabbed two mics for her and Marina.

"When Sasha wakes up I'm sure she'll agree that my hugs are way better than Bayley's," Della laughed.

A few fans started booing so Marina took it up. "Shut up, it's what she deserves."

Della continued. "Out of all the overhyped NXT alumni, Sasha has to be the biggest disappointment. It was all good just a few years ago when she had men going to bat for her saying that she was already the greatest female wrestler of all time and that she deserved wrestler of the year. The fans loved her, she moved merch like crazy and she could put on a show like no other...as far as female WWE performers at least. She was supposed to be the face of this division. Now she's coasting with her loser best friend in a tired and played out angle. Where did she go wrong, you ask? Believing her own hype. She believed she was the greatest, she believed that those 'we want Sasha' chants would last forever, she believed her spot at the top was secure. I bet Flair Jr. snatching that title back every three weeks and them allowing five feet of blonde to run through the division, stack title reigns and take the spot that was supposed to be hers gave her a big wake up call. In a few years when she finally paralyzes herself, all she'll be is a 'what could've been.' How does that make you feel, Sasha? Any comments?" Della held the mic to Sasha's mouth and all that could be heard around the arena was groans of Sasha regaining consciousness. "What's that? ' _D. Stone is superior to me in every way and unlike me she's going to actually live up to the hype.'_ Thanks, Sasha, I agree."

Marina rolled out of the ring.

Della was about to do the same until she remembered her shoulder. She took the steps instead. "Oh wait, Marina, we forgot about Bayley."

"Who cares?" Marina scoffed into her mic. "WWE forgot about Bayley as well from the very beginning when they only brought up THREE of the FOUR horsewoman and let her rot down in NXT for another year. Her entire career has been nothing but a collection of L's from being called up late, to being embarrassed by Alexa in that horrible feud to being exposed on the mic to our match tonight."

"And if they accept our challenge for a match at Summerslam, we're going to issue them yet another L," Della added, dropping the mic.

"Awesome work out there, Marina," Triple H was waiting for them behind the curtain in gorilla. "That one armed sleeper at the end was a very nice touch, Della."

"I don't even care about the promo because we're going to get you back next week," Sasha said, holding her neck. "But did you really have to choke me out?"

"I told you I don't like acting," Della shrugged, zipping her bag in the locker room.

"You could've killed her," Bayley matter of factly stated.

"But did she die?" Marina countered.

* * *

"Marina's match was really good tonight. I've never really paid attention to her besides that one match against you during the MYC. She's good on the mic too," Roman said, picking up a slice of pizza they had delivered to their room. "I'd tell her myself but she might curse me out."

"I'd tell her that you said it but at this point she may curse me out as well," Della laughed.

"I don't have to tell you that you're a beast on the mic. And that sleeper? Damn. Sasha is a great seller because it looked real."

"It was," Della smirked.

"You're shitting me," he chuckled.

"I shit you not," she replied. "Wanna see?"

"Sure," he snorted as if he didn't quite believe she was capable of pulling it off.

"Alright," she cracked her knuckles and moved behind him. His neck was thick so she went in hard and tight from the start.

He began choking immediately and his arms started flailing around and he said between coughs. "Okay...I…believe...you."

When she released him he took a few deep breaths.

"You did good. All the men and women I've used it on before couldn't talk through it like you did," she laughed. "My big baby is tough."

He rubbed his neck. "I'm confused. Last week I was Daddy, this week I'm big baby? What kind of regression is that?"

"You're only Daddy when the clothes come off," she informed him as she began massaging his neck.

He looked over on the floor. "Where did that basket come from?"

Della thought to lie and say a fan gave it to her but she decided to tell the truth. They were way past the point of keeping secrets from one another. "Elias."

"Elias?!" he turned around to face her. "I thought that was dead."

"It would've had to actually be alive in the first place in order to die. Today was the first time I've exchanged words with him since the confrontation," she replied.

"Be honest with me, did you like him?" Roman asked. Della detected a hint of jealousy in his voice and thought it was cute.

"I told you he's not you," she replied.

"Let's say I wasn't in the picture?"

"He's a nice guy, handsome, huge muscles, considerate apparently judging by the basket, pretty eyes and his-" Della was cut off by Roman deliberately clearing his throat. She continued. "Long story short, if you weren't in the picture I'd maybe give him a chance."

"Well, well, well and the truth comes out," Roman grumbled.

Della laughed. "I know you are not getting upset at the thought of me hypothetically dating another guy when you have a whole wife and one, two, three children at home. Are you kidding me? I also said if you weren't in the picture. Last I checked you were therefore I don't give a damn about Elias or any other man on the roster except you."

"I do sound a little ridiculous, don't I," he admitted with a sigh. "I like to think of you as mine now but really you aren't. If you decide that this arrangement is too much for you tomorrow and leave, I'd just have to accept it and also accept the fact that you will eventually move on with someone who can give you their all."

Della turned to him and looked him straight in the eye. He stared back at her with such a serious intensity that she felt her temperature rise. "Joe, let's not talk about that. As of right now, I'm happy with the piece of you that you've decided to share with me. Waking up next to you every morning and falling asleep next to you every night has been the best part of being on the road. Ask me if I'd trade that for some guy's all? Maybe I'm a fool but I'd say no."

He smirked. "Did you just say what I said this morning about being on the road with you but more romantic?"

"I guess I did, huh," she smiled and nodded. "Anyway, so you and Brock. Are you actually going to win this time because if not, what's the point? I'm not a hater fan but shit, I'd boo or walk out on the match too at this point."

"Told you, babe, I don't give out spoilers," he shook his head.

"What? After the weekend we had? What do I have to do? Give you my anal virginity," she joked.

"I don't think that'll be necessary but I haven't forgotten what I told you in the shower earlier. So I'm going to lay down and what I want you to do is take off your clothes and come sit that pussy on my face."

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear those words!" Della was giddy as she kicked off her jeans and underwear. She sat on his face, grinding herself into him. Her vag molded to his mouth and nose and she feared suffocating him.

"Are you alright down there?" She chuckled to herself thinking of the TMZ headline: _Married WWE star Roman Reigns found dead - smothered by coworker in sex act gone wrong._

"Uhm hmm," is what she thought he said as he kissed, licked and sucked at her pussy as best he could. He sounded breathless but continued eagerly trying to please her.

Roman probed her entrance with his tongue and she knew exactly what to do. She clenched her thighs around her his head, leaned back and put her hands on his abdomen and rode his tongue to orgasm. When she was finished he ran his tongue over the entire surface, lapping up her juices.

She looked over her shoulder and saw his erection. She tried to get up but he held her in place. "Calm down, I'm just turning around."

When was back on his face from behind, she reached out and stroked him and he responded with a groan that vibrated against her clit. She took as much of him as she could into her mouth and began sucking.

Both of them were moaning as quietly as they could with fellow Superstars wondering the halls. Sensing his ejaculation as well as hers, Della took Roman out of her mouth and licked his tip while jerking him off. Soon after that, they came on each other's faces almost simultaneously.

When she turned around to face him, Roman was staring intently at her. After a few seconds he crooked a finger, drawing her to him.

"On your knees," he commanded. He pushed her flat on the bed with her ass in the air. She braced herself with her forearms. She felt him crawl up behind her and enter in one hard thrust. Della gasped as he grabbed her hips and gave her hard and fast strokes. Roman took a handful of her hair and tugged her head up. He gave her ass two loud smacks and then went into overdrive giving her powerful thrusts. She felt him spread her cheeks so he could watch himself slide in and out of her.

There were the slight rhythmic slapping sounds of flesh hitting flesh, and the wet sounds of Della being penetrated. "You hear that? That's you. Who has you this wet?"

"You, Daddy," she cried out.

Della bit down on her lips to keep her moans down as he scratched at her g-spot with each stroke. Roman looped an arm around her neck, dragging her from the bed so that her back was against him in a kneeling position. He kept his tattooed arm around her neck while his free hand trailed down her body until he found her clit and slowly massaged it. _Slowly,_ a contrast to the fast thrusts he continued to give. That was it for her. Her walls spasmed around him and she came so hard that she thought she might black out.

She hadn't recovered yet before he flipped her onto her back and pushed her legs up so that she wore her ankles as earrings. He entered her and dug deep. Della's mouth was open but no sound escaped. At this new angle, Roman slowed down his rhythm, concentrating on getting as deep into her as possible. She felt every inch of him as he slid in and out. Della could hear herself panting and his breathing sounded very shallow. She began meeting his thrust with her hips and he came a growl.

Della was burned out as she collapsed on her pillow. "I still want to know the outcome to your match against Brock."

Roman shook his head with his eyes closed. He was tired as well and his body was covered in a sweaty sheen. "I thought I would put you to sleep with that fuck but I guess not."

"Well, I am exhausted so it still counts," she replied. "I think the only reason why I didn't pass out is because my bladder is getting ready to explode which is a very uncomfortable feeling."

Della rose from the bed and her shoulder was stiff. She hissed as she tried to move it. It seems they both forgot about it during the act and she was suffering because of it. On her way back from the bathroom she dug down in her bag for the bottle of oxycodone. She stared at it for a while contemplating before shaking two into her palm. She cracked open a bottle of water and swallowed them down.

When she returned to bed, Roman was knocked out. His lips were parted and he snored lightly. She climbed in and draped an arm across his chest, burying her face in his neck. A sad empty feeling overcame her knowing that this would be over tomorrow when he got on his flight back to Tampa and went home. She wished she came up to the main roster during touring season so she could've spent two straight weeks with him. As the pills slowly induced sleep, she wondered how or if they'd work out once this feud ended and she went back down to NXT.

"Joe?"

"Hmm?" he answered, sounding half sleep.

"I think I'm falling…" she cut it short. She wasn't. She couldn't be. Even if she was, she dare not say it. What married man wanted to hear the other woman say, _'I think I'm falling in love with you.'_ Those eight words would be the death of their relationship. She cleared her throat and continued. "...asleep."

"That's good, baby, goodnight," he replied, resuming his snoring.

* * *

Early Tuesday morning Roman scrubbed his body clean in the shower. He was going home today and would feel weird touching his wife and playing with his children with traces of Delesia on his skin.

He got dressed, packed his belongings and stood over the bed looking down at her. She was so beautiful in the mornings. This in his opinion was when she looked the best. No makeup and her hair still in its natural state, big and curly. Roman knelt down beside the bed and she must've sensed his presence because her eyes slowly blinked open. Her mouth stretched into a smile when she caught sight of him.

She sat up and yawned. "What time is it?"

"7:30."

"Oh it's earlier than I thought," she looked him up and down, seeing that he was dressed. "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah I have to get back to Tampa," he told her. "My flight leaves at 8. When does yours leave?"

"Sadie volunteered to drive from Orlando to pick us up. Probably because she wants to shop but whatever," she waved it off. "I'll miss you."

"I know baby," Roman pulled her over in a hug, laying his head on top of hers and feeling her hair tickle his chin. She melted into him and then she looked up at him with those eyes. Every time they spent time alone, he saw her becoming more open and vulnerable to him. He knew their situation wouldn't last forever. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her so he hoped when the time came it ended amicably with no bitter feelings left behind.

Delesia tilted her head up in an attempt to kiss him but he backed away. Her smile faded to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"What?" She blew in her hands to smell her breath.

He laughed and shook his head. "No, it's just...I'm on my way home."

She looked a little hurt, but nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry, I forgot about that for a second."

Delesia had been perfect in their arrangement so far. With the exception of last night, she hadn't brought up his wife or children at all and he appreciated it because he felt like the time he spent with Delesia was just that, the time he spent with Delesia. When he talked to his wife or children on the phone, she gave him his space. When they crossed paths backstage, she shook his hand just like she would any other wrestler. She never stopped him to make small talk. She never took any sneaky selfies in the hotel room with his elbow in the shot that caused fans to search through the male roster trying to identify body parts. He never saw her watching him and giggling with the other women. In fact he overheard her talking with Sasha the other day and respected how smooth she was.

He looked at his phone for the time. 7:38. The airport was ten minutes away and he needed to leave enough time for heavy traffic and fans stopping him. "Alright, I have to go."

"Okay, I'll see you next weekend," she replied softly. "Bye."

He grabbed her hand, walking backwards, his hand retreated on hers until just their pinkies were linked. He lingered for a few seconds before disconnecting. "Bye."

Roman headed for the door. When he reached it, he looked back over his shoulder. _Mistake_. She was smiling but her eyes looked sad and it tugged at his heart strings. Outside of their room, he sighed, leaning his head back against the door. His feelings for her were strong to begin with, even when he didn't know her that well, but now that he knew her intimately and spent the last four days with her, he realized that his feelings ran deeper than sexual or physical attraction. It wasn't love but there was something there. Maybe they shared an addition to lust. As much as he tried to think differently, he knew he would eventually break her heart and that pained him.

As he walked down the hallway, a door opened. Seth was backing out of the room with his bags.

"Airport?" Seth asked.

"Airport," Roman confirmed.

"Cool, we can share a cab," Seth replied. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "I just wanted you to know I'm headed back to Davenport in case you wanted to come out and give me a goodbye hug before I leave. Hello? Marina?" he pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it. Chuckling, he slid it back into his pocket. "I don't know who that girl hates more, you or me."

"Definitely me," Roman snorted.

"Yeah, I agree. I'm not the one taking her best friend away," Seth said.

"What's up with you and Sarah?"

"I like her, she's a great girl but I don't know if I see myself with her in the long run," Seth admitted.

"I think you may have commitment issues?"

"Just a week ago I would've taken relationship advice from you seriously," Seth mumbled, pushing the button for the elevator.

"What I have going doesn't make my advice any less true," Roman replied. "You were with Leighla for years, fucked around on her throughout, got engaged and still didn't marry. You dated that Zahra chick for a year and it went nowhere. You're dating Sarah, she uprooted her life to move to Iowa and now _'I don't know if I see myself with her in the long run.'_ Every time things get serious, you start showing your ass until it crashes and burns."

"Hmm, you might be right…" Seth sounded somewhat bewildered.

Roman made it to the airport where he ran into Elias.

"Hey," Elias spoke with a head nod.

Behind Roman's dark shades he was glaring. "What's up."

As he walked through the terminal he tried to figure out why he was mad at Elias. The guy wasn't doing anything wrong pursuing a seemingly single woman. Maybe it would be for the best if she ran off with Elias or some other guy. Then, she wouldn't be hurt because she'd be initiating the split and he wouldn't or at least shouldn't be hurt since he had a wife.

Roman stopped to take a few selfies with fans before boarding the plane. He covered his ears with headphones and slept during the hour long flight.

He didn't go straight home when he landed in Tampa, instead he rode around with no purpose. Other times he rushed home but this time he had to mentally prepare himself to face his wife after the last few days he spent with Delesia.

When he pulled into his driveway he sat with the engine running for a little while before getting out. His wife appeared in the living room to greet him. He always hugged her when he returned, evidence of his thankfulness to be reunited with them. Today was no different but he held her much tighter and for much longer than usual.

She pulled back. "Are you okay, Joe?"

"I'm just happy to be home again, that's all," he said, looking around. The house was silent which was weird considering they had two demanding little boys that didn't give him a chance to sit down good before they were pulling him in different directions. "Where is everybody?"

"The boys are sleep and Jojo is out with one of her friends from school. She's still talking about the time you two spent in L.A. We're basically alone so you know what that means," she said with a wink.

He was tired from the road and sex wit Delesia all weekend but he knew if he was going to pull off this affair thing without raising suspicion, he had to dig deep and bring out the same energy he'd have when he came home after days on the road without female touch.

They had different appeals, D and G. G of course was his wife and the mother of his children so her importance to him went without saying. She knew him inside and out. What he was doing now was no fault of hers. She kept him satisfied and she lacked nothing. This affair was due to his own selfishness and that was something he was going to have to deal with. He could talk to G about anything and she'd understand it except the business and life on the road. That's where Delesia came in. She was the perfect companion. He concluded that she was his road wife after all. Whatever wrestling related topic he brought up, she understood and because she was an industry vet, she could give him advice and drop knowledge. She also understood the road. He didn't have to put on an act for D like he wasn't worn out like he'd do for G so she wouldn't worry.

As he lay there that night he wondered if it was possible to love G and not think to try to replace her in the most meaningful ways but still be sexually and emotionally attracted to D, acting on it in a non-committal way. The only thing he knew for sure was this was no way to live, lying to G and eventually hurting D but he was in too deep now.

* * *

 **That brings this scandalous chapter to a close.**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Summerslam Chapter... lots of drama ahead...**

* * *

Roman came with a jolt and a shutter as the squeezes from Della's orgasm took him over the edge. He groaned and kissed her forehead. "Good Morning."

Della felt him trying to roll off of her so she clamped her legs and arms onto his back to stop him. The warm full body contact was incredible, his skin, his heart, his heat. "No, I like feeling your weight on me."

"How's your shoulder?" he asked, caressing it.

"95% better," she replied. He was so caring and that was one of the reason she was falling in love with him despite her better judgement.

He must've notice the way she looked at him. "What are you thinking?"

"How lucky I am to have this big thick juicy hunk of meat on top of me," she smiled, running her hands up and down back and shoulders.

"Looking down at you I think we both hit the jackpot."

"I know right?" Della laughed, kissing him. She felt him growing hard inside of her again and squeezed down on him, slowly rotating her hips on him fucking him slowly and gently. In a slow serious tone she said, "Joe, I love...fucking you."

He groaned, spraying himself inside of her. "I love fucking you too."

She mentally rearranged his sentence to 'I fucking love you too' because that's what she _really_ meant. "Okay, you can get your big ass off of me now."

He chuckled and rolled over into his pillow. "What time is it?"

She clicked her phone. 7:45. "Time for us to start getting up."

As Della made her way to the bathroom she felt soaked from the mixture of him as well as her. It reminded her to take her birth control once she got out of the shower. She picked up her small circular container of pills…empty. Not to worry, she always kept a spare…at least she thought. Della began to panic as she turned her bag over on the bathroom floor, scattering her things. The only pills she had were her oxycodone.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiittt!" she chanted as she scrambled to get dressed quickly, probably setting a world record. She knew she had no time to waste as Roman's sperm swam toward her eggs. If she took in account of all the sex they had last night it probably already reached one. She consulted with Google: ' _The fastest swimmers may find the egg in as little as 45 minutes. It can take the slowest up to 12 hours. Some can take days.'_ Roman was capable of producing twins, the thought of that plus her being a twin made her shiver. There was no way in hell she would risk having a baby, let alone two with a married man.

"What's wrong?" Roman sat up with the sheets over his waist. She couldn't tell him. He'd also freak out and would never trust her again. This would be even deadlier than 'I love you' when he realized she wasn't responsible enough to keep up with something that could make or break their career and lives. But at the same time it was on him too since he was the married party. He shouldn't take the risk of having unprotected sex in the first place, birth control or no birth control.

"Nothing, I have to make a run. If I'm not back by the time you leave, I'll see you at the arena," Della leaned over to push his hair out of his face and kiss him. Roman reached for her, wanting more but she needed to get to get away fast.

Della was mortified as she did her walk of shame to the Walgreens counter. She could barely make eye contact with the person behind it. "Uhh, do you carry Plan B pills?"

The female pharmacist behind the counter somehow managed to look both sympathetic and judgmental at the same time. "They're not over the counter anymore. You can find it on the shelf between the First Response pregnancy tests and the OraQuick HIV test."

"Thanks...bitch," Della mumbled the last part under her breath. She got the pill and decided to get a box of sinus pills while she was there.

She thought she was home free until she ran into a male fan wearing a New Day shirt. "Where's your sling? Are you healed? Are you wrestling tonight."

"I haven't been cleared yet but fingers crossed," Della replied, hopeful.

"Can I take a picture with you?" he asked.

"Sure," Della said. She quickly hid the Plan B box behind her purse. The last thing she needed was someone spotting it on the photo causing it to go viral while fans played 'Guess the male Superstar.' "You coming to the show tonight?"

"Of course. I'll be there front row," he replied.

"Cool, see you there," Della said, heading to the register.

Della made it back to the hotel parking lot twenty minutes later. Roman was loading his bags into his rental car. He gave her a 'what's up' head nod and she returned it.

She was getting ready to enter the hotel when Seth pulled up to the entrance and blew.

He let down the window. "Let's ride."

"I have to get my bags."

" _He_ already packed your things and gave them to Seth," Marina muttered.

"Oh, cool," Della replied, jumping in the back.

Marina turned around in her seat. "Where were you anyway?"

"Walgreens judging by the bag," Seth commented.

"Yeah, my sinuses were bothering me this morning so I made a quick run," Della said, pulling the sinus pills out of the bag for show.

When they arrived in the parking lot, Della took an oxycodone. Her shoulder didn't hurt anymore but it was sore and she couldn't risk showing signs of pain when the trainer examined her. Tonight was the go home show to Summerslam and she needed to be cleared.

"How are you feeling today?" the trainer asked.

"Great! I feel like I can go out there tonight if I'm allowed," Della answered, confidently.

"I'll be the judge of that," the trainer declared sternly as he took her arm into his hand. He pressed and she didn't feel anything. When he moved to the center of the injury, he applied more pressure and she sat motionless in response.

"Ms. Stone…" the trainer stopped in a long, dramatic pause that almost drove Della crazy. "...you are good to go!"

"Finally!" Della exclaimed, sliding down from the table.

Marina was waiting for her outside of the trainer's room when she excited. "What did he say?"

Della gave her two thumbs up. "Guess who's back, back again. Della's back, tell a friend."

"Oh thank God!" Marina released a sigh of relief. Della reached out and gave her a tight hug.

"What is this for?"

"To say thank you for doing all the heavy lifting the last three weeks at Raw and at all the house shows. You carried this feud in-ring while I stood on the apron talking shit. This also gave you the opportunity to show the world that we're equals instead of you just being my flippy sidekick," Della laughed.

"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff. That could've easily been me out on injury and you would've had the same responsibility I had. Also, Stephanie needs to meet with us."

Della knocked and Stephanie invited them to enter.

"I'm looking at figures from the WWE Shop and all of the women's sizes in your shirt...sold completely out. Get this, the men's sizes actually sold out first. We ordered a limited stock in men because our expectations weren't high about men being excited over a shirt that has bold and bitchy written on the front," Stephanie laughed. "We're ordering a second shipment of shirts now. Until then, we have a second merch piece that'll go up on sell when Della wears it tonight."

"What?" Della was waiting with suspense as Stephanie slowly pulled a bandana with B&B on it from behind her back. She snatched it. "I love it."

"Well that's a change from we first introduced the merch," Stephanie replied wryly. "Hunter needs to see you two, also once you get dressed."

Della tapped her first with black tape and secured her hair in a ponytail. A black sports bra, black leather pants and black military boots completed the look. Marina was dressed in a similar fashion. "With your hair pulled back like that and your clothing you look like your name is Juan and you just escaped from a federal prison."

"Which is why I'll never cut my hair and why I never wear it up," Marina snorted.

"Marina, where in the hell do you think you're going wearing brass knuckles?" Triple H asked as he approached them.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to do this right," Marina replied.

"You can do it right all you want...as long as it's within PG standards. Using a deadly weapon capable of killing someone is not," he shook his head.

"Fine," Marina grumbed, snatching them off.

"It's going to be pre taped and aired in the first hour," Triple H informed and then went on to give them more instruction.

They filmed the segment and were back in the locker room changing into their wrestling gear when a Raw rewind of what happened last week played.

" _We know you're back there lurking Team Bitch and Bitch, come on out," Sasha prompted and their themes played._

" _Sasha, good to see you awake again," Della taunted with a smirk as she entered the ring._

 _Sasha walked over and took the mic out of Della's hand. "No, no. You got to have your say uninterrupted last week, now it's our turn. Since hype seems to be your favorite word, let's talk about it."_

" _By all means," Della encouraged._

" _Yes, my hype died down but when the smoke cleared, guess what? I'm still here. All those bandwagon fans are gone and are now on your ship. That's fine but bandwagon fans are fleeting. Bandwagon fans get behind the newest indy darling despite never having seen any of your pre-WWE matches. That's what you have, Della, bandwagoners basking in your glory. But then this time next year your hype will be gone and those bandwagoners will slowly drift away to the next signee labeled 'the best," Sasha paused and Della was actually impressed with her rebuttal so far. "Where I am in my career is the moment when you know your worth. What I have now are real fans. Real fans who keep my merch in the top ten, real fans over 3 million on Instagram and almost 2 million on Twitter. Let's see how you measure up when you're 3 years in on the main roster."_

 _A good percentage of the crowd was behind Sasha and they cheered. Sasha was in the process of turning around to address Marina but was met with a forearm from Marina._

 _The showed highlights from Sasha vs Marina with Della interferring at the end for Marina to pick up the win._

When the Raw rewind was over, the segment they filmed aired:

 **The camera cut to Sasha and Bayley backstage talking. Della limped toward them holding her shoulder, in sling gingerly her face contorted in a pained expression.**

"Why are you limping when your shoulder is what's injured?" Marina whispered to Della as they watched."

"I don't know," Della laughed. "I was acting. Shh."

" **Sasha, Bayley, I just wanted you two to know that I just left the trainer's office and unfortunately..." Della paused, taking a deep breath. "...** _ **for you at least**_ **..I'm back!"**

 **Della punched Sasha with a hard right hook that snapped her head back and then a searing left hook to her ribs. Sasha tried to fight back but Della rammed her into the wall hard and began pumbling her with punches. Bayley was coming to assist but Marina came out of nowhere and speared her into a nearby table. Sasha threw an elbow into Della's bad shoulder which caused her to step back and hiss which allowed Sasha to knee her in the stomach. Sasha tried to kick her but Della dodged the foot. Meanwhile Marina was ramming Bayley's face into the wooden table over and over again.**

" **Hey! Hey!" Kurt yelled, running into the scene. Baron grabbed Marina and Kurt grabbed Della. While Kurt had Della restrained, Sasha took the opportunity to slap Della. "Sasha no, stop! Della, I received word that you're medically cleared to wrestle so if you four want to fight, you can fight in the ring!"**

"I still don't understand why they're giving this match away on free TV," Della said, tying the bandana around her head. "When this feud started they said that we'd only brawl on the go home show."

"I don't know either. Unless we hold back, I don't see people being excited about seeing it again Sunday," Marina replied.

Della's stomach growled reminding her that she hadn't eaten all day. "I'm hungry, let's go to catering. We'll be back," was all Della told Sasha and Bayley as they slipped out of the room.

"Sasha did not look happy when H said we were going over," Marina chuckled.

"She's laid on her back for far worse opponents. She'll be alright," Della rolled her eyes. "Oh, speaking of H, let's swing by his office. I need to run something by him about the finish."

Voices were heard as they approached his office but the sound remained indistinct until they got closer. It sounded like Triple H arguing with Michael Hayes, HOFer and producer.

"I don't know, H," Hayes said. "If you want to give it to them, just present it after the match Sunday as a surprise. We don't want to risk them killing themselves for it."

"Sasha was apart of the Money in the Bank match and didn't get hurt," H countered. "I say let them go at it."

"She didn't get hurt because she only had a few spots in a match filled with 7 other women. Sunday it's going to be just the 4 of them with twenty minutes to kill," Hayes replied. "It's dangerous."

"Della and Marina are industry veterans, they're experienced enough to protect her," Triple H said confidently.

"Maybe you're right but I'm going to make them give me a run down on any big spots they'll plan," Hayes replied. "We can't have any of those women breaking their necks on live television."

"Ladders?" Della mouthed to Marina and they ran back towards the locker room.

"I thought you were hungry?"

"What is hunger?" Della replied. "A ladder match at Summerslam? Tag titles!"

"I know the women's tag title chatter has been louder lately but I assumed when it finally happened the Bellas would be the first champs because...twins," Marina said. "What are our chances?"

"50, 50 but I don't think we'll win. You know how it works, whoever is left standing tall on the go home show usually loses on the pay per view and we happen to be winning tonight," Della pointed out.

They burst back into the locker room. Both Sasha and Bayley looked up at them with confusion.

"I guess we'll save those big spots we planned until Summerslam," Bayley said.

"Actually, we can pull the trigger on all the spots we had because we need to start planning the Summerslam match from scratch now," Della replied.

"What do you mean?" Sasha raised a brow.

"I really don't want to say anything because I want you to look legit excited when it's announced but we're having a ladder match and I think we're climbing for titles!" Della revealed with uncontained excitement.

"What?" Sasha's jaw dropped. After the initial shock, her mouth curled into a smile. "I guess I'll happily accept my L tonight if we get our comeuppance Sunday with tag titles."

Bayley and Marina started the match off for an exchange. In one of the first big spots of the match, Bayley tagged in Sasha. Della who also tagged in immediately exit the ring, not wanting anything to do with Sasha. She jumped down from the apron to stand on the floor but Sasha went to the top rope and dropped double knees on Della, flattening her.

This leads to floor brawling, B&B works over Sasha and suplexes her onto the ramp and then climbs back in the ring. Sasha barely beats the count at 9. Della lays the boots to her, rakes the eyes and drop kicks her for 2. Marina tags in and lays in chops to Sasha. Della tags back in and rakes Sasha's eyes again. Sasha attempts to crawl over to Bayley for a tag but Della prevented it or at least thought she prevented it but what she didn't see was Sasha and Bayley's fingertips touch. Bayley reaches out and tagged herself in but Della didn't see it.

Bayley launches Della with a surprise missile drop kick from the top rope. When Della was back on 2 feet, Bayley got her with a neck breaker and went for a cover that only resulted for a 2 count. Della powered up with forearms and fights off Bayley long enough to tag Marina back in. Marina laid in kicks and a standing moonsault that only got 2. Bayley was slow to get up so Marina kicked her back down.

Sasha entered the ring and they had a standoff that Della cut it short with a big boot to the side of Sasha's head. Now both Bayley and Sasha lay flat on their back. Marina pointed to the turnbuckle near Della and they both climbed. The crowd was on their feet knowing what to expect. Their timing was in sync as they both executed beautiful shooting star presses...unfortunately, both Sasha and Bayley got their knees up before impact.

The ref finally intervened. "Only one of you from each team is legal. I don't care who gets out but two of you need to exit before I end this match in disqualification."

"Me...and you," Della said pointing at Sasha.

Della hit a hurricanrana and then a pop up powerbomb for a 2 count. Sasha fights back and hits a rana of her own. Della hits a snap dragon suplex and kills Sasha with a sunset bomb to the floor. Sasha was supposed to land on her shoulders but landed on her neck instead. Della cringed. Maybe Haynes was right about the ladder match. Apparently the fans enjoyed it because it insisted a "holy shit" chant followed by "this is awesome."

Back in, Bayley and Sasha exchange another sneak tag and Bayley executes a Bayley to Belly but it was close to the ropes so Della rolled out of the ring.

"Hi five," Marina said, raising her hand for Della to meet it, their way of tagging.

Marina and Bayley trade strikes, they light each other up and Marina drops her with a Pele kick. Marina was about to pin her but she looked over at Della. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"It's been 3 weeks, of course!" Della tagged back in and forced Bayley into position for the. Della Driver 92. 1...2...3.

When the match was over, neither team immediately went to the back. They stalled waiting for Kurt or Stephanie's music to play but it never happened. Della could see the disappointment on Sasha and Bayley's faces.

"Ladder match, huh?" Sasha confronted when they made it back behind the curtain.

"And we just gave away our perfect match," Bayley added.

"Look, I'm sorry it didn't happen but I know what I heard," Della defended herself.

"I heard it too but the way they were talking it seemed that they were unsure so maybe they decided against it after all" Marina shrugged.

"Especially after seeing Sasha land on her neck for the millionth time," Della grumbled under her breath.

"For Summerslam, it's up to you two to put the match together and let us know the spots because I'm over it," Sasha threw her hands up and walked away.

As soon as Sasha and Bayley popped around the corner, Della heard clapping.

"Ugh, I'm not in the mood for this," she sighed.

"Me either but put on a happy face. The sooner we get it out of the way, the sooner we can get back to the locker room," Marina said, pushing Della forward.

Everyone in the area was applauding them. Della gave fake smiles and sent appreciative nods around the room. Her eyes landed on Roman who was also clapping and she blushed. His hair was down and wet which meant his segment with Heyman and Lesnar was next.

She was following the other three women to the locker room until Stephanie stopped her.

"Della, I saw some of your interviews and you're a really great spokeswoman. We're going to be doing a lot of promoting this week for Summerslam and we just booked you on a late show," Stephanie said. "We had Ronda but she's going to do Ellen instead."

"Oh wow, I'm honored to go represent on WWE's behalf. Will it be a solo appearance?"

"No," Steph shook her head. "You and Roman."

"Roman? Reigns?" Della blinked rapidly several times.

"That's the only Roman I know," Steph replied. "You and Reigns live Friday night. The details and talking points will be emailed to you."

Her and Roman live together on national television. What could possibly go wrong.

 **RealKurtAngle: Wow! How can tonight's women's tag match possibly be topped Sunday?**

 **StephanieMcMahon: I can think of a way...maybe two.**

* * *

Every time Della was around Roman around him her mind reverted to sex even now as she watched him do the most normal, non-sexual things ever. He sat on the floor in front of his bag folding his clothes delicately with his long fingers and she imagined those digits inside of her. He pulled his hair off of his face and into a man bun and she imagined him pulling hers from behind. Before he stood, he squeezed one of his knees and she imagined him squeezing her boob.

"What are you smiling about?" Roman asked when he looked up.

"Nothing," she shook her head, still smiling.

He eyed her suspiciously but appeared to drop his thought. "Did they mention what they have planned for you post Summerslam?"

"No."

"Did you ask?"

"No."

Roman stared at her incredulously. "Why the hell not?"

"Sounds like someone doesn't want me to leave," she teased.

"I don't," he admitted, climbing into bed. "I've gotten used to having you around now."

"Or you've gotten used to sex every night," Della mumbled.

Roman smirked, crawling down her body to lightly kiss her clit over her panties, lacing his fingers around the waistband to tug them up tighter just to see the shape of her vagina.

"I like this but I like the girl attached to it better," he said crawling back up her body. "What do you think we are to each other."

"I don't know," Della shrugged. "Fuck buddies."

"Is that what you think you are to me? A fuck buddy?" His brown eyed searched her face for answers.

"What else am I supposed to think, Joe?" Della turned away from him. She'd rather think that than to get her feelings hurt thinking they were something more.

Roman sighed. "Let's be honest, I can walk up to any girl on the roster right now and get easy pussy but with us there's more to it than that. When the clothes are back on I can lay here, talk to you for hours and genuinely enjoy your company. Hell, I'm more stressed than you wondering your about your post-Summerslam fate. Does that sound like a fuck buddy to you?"

"No, I guess not," Della replied. It sounded more like a friends with benefits situation. Most people knew fwb relationship rarely work. Eventually one party wanted more from the other which was impossible with married Roman. Even the guy in the situation who claims it's casual and that they don't care, care.

"You guess not," he scoffed. "Do you usually have plans on Tuesdays?"

"I don't think so. Sometimes I go to the Performance Center to train and stuff but not tomorrow. Why?"

"Because my wife and the kids are in California right now," Roman said.

"Really? For what? Not that's it's my business…" she added hastily.

"That's where she's originally from. School is getting ready to start for Jojo so this will be the last chance her folks will get to see them for a while," he explained. "When they leave she's flying straight to New York to meet me."

"Ohh, cool. So what does that mean for us?"

"I can get an extra day on the room tomorrow if you're down," he offered.

"Of course! But I need to be the one to get the extra day since the room is in my name. I wonder if it'll feel weird," Della wondered aloud.

"What?"

"Hanging out with you and not feeling rushed. You know when we're on the road 90% of the time is dedicated to travel and wrestling. The time we do have with each other is short because we have to be asleep at a certain time in order to be rested for the drive or flight to the next city."

"Yeah, that will feel weird but you know what, I think I'll like it. It's not taking any time from my family so that's a plus," he nodded.

"I also don't have to get all the sex I can out of you tonight to last me until Friday now that we'll have an extra 24 hours together," she said snuggling into his side.

"And I can sleep in," he yawned.

"So much for sleeping in," Della grunted at 6:00 the next morning when they heard chatter and footsteps of their fellow wrestlers leaving the hotel for the airport.

A loud knock came on their door. Roman sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Who is it?"

"I'll check it," Della whispered, climbing out of bed and tiptoeing to the door. "It's Marina and Seth."

"Are they alone?" Roman whispered.

Della looked through the peephole again. "There's a few people passing behind them but no one is really paying attention."

"Alright, let them in."

Marina entered and looked at Della's pajamas. "Why aren't you dressed? Our flight leaves at 6:30."

Roman greeted Marina. "Morning. Great match last night."

Marina scoffed at him in response. "He's trolling me at this point, isn't he?"

"Joe and I are going to spend an extra day here," Della blurted.

"Has _Joe_ forgotten that he has a wife and three children at home?"

"They're visiting family," Della replied.

"Oh, really? So you two are going to play house while they're away," a downright sardonic laugh escaped Marina's lips.

"Play hotel room rather," Seth added.

Marina looked around and smirked. "I'm starting to rub off on you, huh?"

"Rub off on me? I wish," he snorted.

"One step forward...two steps back. Never fails. What am I going to do with you, Rollins," Marina shook her head. "You know we were supposed to be meeting with Sasha and Bayley to put together spots for the ladder match."

"Shit, I forgot about that," Della ran a hand through her hair. "You go and I'll just meet up with you guys tomorrow."

"Whatever," Marina walked out of the door and slammed it behind her.

Della thought about something and followed her out. Thank God she didn't have sex with him last night. "Hey, we use the same birth control right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You aren't having sex…" Della paused, glancing at Seth. "...at least I don't think? Can I borrow yours."

Marina dug around in her purse. "By all means, take them. 20 years from now when you look back on this very dark time in your life, the last thing you need is a reminder in the form of an adult offspring. I'm sure he or she would be cute and illegitimate with beautiful hair. Maybe baby D. Reigns will grow up to wrestle too and since those Samoan genes will be watered down if it's a boy he may actually be able to develop a six pack and wrestle shirtless."

"That's just fucking rude, Marina. Don't talk about him like that!" Della lashed out.

"Rude, not to mention semi-racist," Seth added.

"I overheard him calling me an angry latina so we're even. And I know you're not talking. Aren't you the guy who dated disgraced flop Zahra! Do we need to revisit why she was fired?" Marina countered.

Della slipped back into her hotel room leaving them arguing in the hallway. She cracked open a bottle of water and swallowed down a birth control pill. She had a strong feeling she'd need it today.

When she turned around Roman lifted the sheets in invitation to Della and she climbed in and arranged herself to lie on her side facing him. They stared into each other's eyes silently until he went back to sleep and she did the same.

She woke again at about 9:45. The bed was empty and the room was silent. She was getting nervous until she rolled over and spotted his bags still on the floor.

When she entered the bathroom he was submerged in a tub of water. He looked relaxed with his head leaned back against the wall and his eyes closed. Sensing her presence, he motioned for her to come over.

She made a quick show of stripping off her clothes and dipped a single foot in. The water was scolding hot and she yelped, withdrawing the foot. "Are you suicidal and boiling yourself to death?"

Roman laughed and turned on the cold faucet. "This is what I do when I get home. It helps with any lingering aches and pains."

After he turned the cold off, she tried again. The water was still hot but it was comfortable now thanks to the cold mixture. She settled between his legs with her back against his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"This is actually nice," Della could tell he added something therapeutic to the water as she could feel it and smell it. "So what else do you do when you're home?"

"Nothing much. Depending on where I'm flying from I'll usually make it there before 10. If my boys are awake they're on me before I get both feet in the door so I'll play with them. If they're sleep or occupied, I'll try to get a few hours of sleep. When school is in, I'll go pick Jojo up at 3 and later I'll help her with her homework," he said.

"You're daddy as fuck in more ways than one,"she smiled. "Well spoken, great father, you're considerate, good dick, immaculate tongue. I won't comment on you as a husband since any penalties in that area is partly my fault. Do you have a cousin who isn't over 300 pounds and married?"

"Less than 300 pounds is asking too much and you're trying to keep it in the family, huh?"

"Oh please, if I pulled a random Samoan off the streets chances are he's related to you. You have a big ass family."

"You're probably right because our bloodline runs deep."

"But you're the fairest Samoan of them all. Oh, wait, nevermind, I forgot about The Rock," she laughed. "I was serious about the well spoken part. I was mostly referring to your interviews and stuff but you've been doing great on the mic these last few weeks, too. You seem way more comfortable. If you ever faced off with Cena again, you _may_ be able to hang. I don't think you'll get the best of him but you won't be a deer in the headlights again."

"Thank you. That means a lot coming from you. I haven't seen a bad promo from you yet. Bad anything really," he complimented.

"God, Joe, I'm already sleeping with you. You don't have to gas me up," she sarcastically replied.

"I'm not gassing you. Practically everyone was watching the monitors last night during your match."

"Talent recognizes talent and you are extremely talented no matter what the trolls say. People are always comparing you to others but I've been in this business for a long time and I've never seen anyone like you."

"Thank you, baby," he circled his arms around her waist under water.

"You're welcome, Kang, yass," Della gave her best fangirl impression.

"I better not find out you're behind some of those Twitter accounts," he chuckled. "I lurk sometimes when I'm between shows and see a lot of 'yasss King' and much more."

"Much more? Like what? Boobs and vag?"

"Nah, I may get that once every blue moon now but when I first joined Twitter and came up with the Shield...it was bad."

"How does your wife feel about all the attention you receive? Sorry, I'm asking way too many personal questions."

"It's okay. What else are we going to talk about all day? Wrestling?" he snorted. "She thinks it's funny but it's nothing that she isn't used to. I was well liked around campus and was the captain of my team during senior year. I was over 300 pounds and wasn't as cut so women weren't beating down my door like they would be now but I was still thought to be an NFL bound player so I got my fair share of attention from women."

"How were you back in college like your personality?"

"The same."

"Do you ever wonder…" Della trailed off, shaking her head. "Nevermind."

"What?"

"Nothing, no and nevermind seems to be the theme of the last few days," Roman replied. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothi...oops. Whatever I was going to say was stupid and kind of disrespectful so don't worry about it," she shook her head wanting to drop the subject.

"Now I _really_ want to know," he persisted.

"Okay," Della went quiet for a moment trying to figure out how to form the question without offending him. "Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you weren't married?"

"Oh," he laughed. "Babe, I know more about unmarried life than married life. I've only been married 4 years."

"Oh yeah. How could I forget since I was there with you days prior. I guess I should change it to, do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you didn't meet your wife back in college."

"We all have what if moments but that's not something I really think about," he started. "It's hard to imagine life without her and Jojo and later my boys. I don't know, I can't imagine my personality being any different than it is now. Maybe I wouldn't be married but I can't imagine myself fucking around with different girls every night either. I'd probably date and if the right one came along, get serious."

"Gosh, you're so boring and conservative," Della responded, absentmindedly kicking her feet in the water. She noticed that the skin on her toes was beginning to prune.

"Thanks," he remarked sarcastically.

"But I think that's one thing I like about you. You look like this really cool, alpha heartbreaker type and I'm sure a lot of people expect you to be that way but you're not. In reality you're just like a really cuddly overgrown teddy bear. God knows with the looks and status that you have you could be out here running wild. The worst thing you've probably done in your life is me."

"You're far from the worse thing. Most irresponsible thing, maybe."

"Do regret it?"

He hesitated for a moment but when he did reply it sounded honest. "I still feel guilty but no, I don't regret it...yet."

"Okay, we either need to get out or let the water out and refill this bad boy because it's getting chilly," Della shivered and Roman obliged, letting all the water out and refilling the tub with a fresh batch of warm water.

Roman lifted his leg on so that his heel rested on the edge of the tub and Della lifted her leg so that it rested on top of his. He snaked his hand down between her legs underwater to stroke her and the other moved to her breast. He proceeded to slide two fingers inside and rubbed his thumb at her clit.

All she could do was moan. "I should've known this is where we were heading when you put your leg up."

"I think _you_ knew where _you_ wanted this to head when you asked me to let the water out. You didn't want my dick pushing medicated water inside of you, huh?"

"Okay, you got me," she admitted, reaching behind her back to take hold of him, stroking the length of it. He lifted her at the waist and she lowered herself on the head and together they worked until he was all the way in. Helped by the water, the rhythm was slow and so smooth going in and out. The tension seemed the rise until they moved frantically, water splashing over the edge and onto the floor.

Della hummed as she dried off on the bed. "I'm hungry."

"Me too. Unfortunately, because the room is in your name, I obviously can't be seen coming in and out so unless we order, you'll have to be the one to go out and get it," he said.

"That's fine, what do you want?"

"Not going to lie, I'm going to miss not having a home cooked meal this week but obviously that's not an option," he sighed. "Can you cook?"

"Of course," she replied.

"I don't believe you," he smirked.

"Why not?"

"You've been wrestling since you were a teen and on the road since you were an adult. When did you have the time to learn?"

"10th grade Home Economics," Della snorted, slipping her shoes on. "I'll be back. I'm going to put the do not disturb sign on the door which means because the maid isn't going to be stopping by, it's your job to clean up that lake we made in the bathroom."

It took her almost 4 hours and 100000 missed calls from Roman but Della made it back to her floor rolling a cart.

When she opened the door, he jumped off of the bed like an angry parent at their teen for missing curfew. "Where the hell were you?! Do you know how worried I was? I've been searching your name on Twitter wondering if something happened to you. Wondering if an obsessive fan got a hold of you or something. I was getting ready to risk it all by calling the police. Why didn't you answer your phone? Why d-"

Roman was stopped mid-sentence when Della removing the lid from one of her trays. Then she removed the other 4. His took a big sniff and his mouth watered looking at the Samoan cuisine before him.

"Where did you buy this?"

"Where did I cook this, you mean?"

"No," he shook his head in disbelief. "Seriously, where did you get this?"

"Well, I went around the city buying groceries then when I got back to the hotel I asked the chef if I could use the kitchen. I thought I was going to get by on my looks but turns out his 10 year old grandson is a wrestling fan and they were at the show last night and the chef recognized me. Trust me, this isn't Mexican or Chinese food with restaurants on every corner. I made every piece of food that you're getting ready to eat because I didn't want you to miss that home cooked meal you so long for."

"Delesia, I don't know what to say," he stared at her in awe. It was a strange, semi-awkward silence. Well awkward for Della because she recognized the look in his eyes. She guessed it was true that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach or maybe it was his dick. Either way, she was creeping into his.

"You can start by saying thank you. After that you don't have to say anything because I'm sure your mouth is going to be full," she giggled.

Della found complete satisfaction watching Roman devour and enjoy her cooking. She always felt like she wouldn't make a good wife because she couldn't imagine herself being domestic but now she had to rethink that.

"You aren't going to eat?" He asked.

"Nice of you to ask me twenty minutes later," she chuckled. "But no, I did a lot of sampling downstairs so I'm good."

"Seriously, Delesia, this is some of the best if not the best authentic Polynesian I've ever had," he said, pushing his plate back and patting his stomach. "And keep in mind I've been eating Polynesian dishes from my grandmother, aunts and relatives my entire life."

"Oh wow," she smiled at the compliment.

"That chicken was a little dry though," he added.

"Oh wow," she said in a monotonous voice this time.

"Now that we aren't rushed, you have time to tell me about yourself. As of right now all I know is the current you. What was your childhood like?"

"You ever seen Toddlers and Tiaras?"

"No," he answered as if she insulted him.

"Ever heard of Jonbenet Ramsey?"

"Wow, that's a throwback. Yes," he confirmed.

"That was my childhood."

"Yikes, I cant imagine Jojo made up like that. We walked legit red carpets a few weeks ago and she didn't have on shit," he replied.

"It was miserable as you can imagine. I always won or was first runner up behind my sister. The dresses got poofier. The hair got bigger. The makeup got cakier."

"How did you go from that to wrestling?"

"After a pageants, one of the parents said WWE, well _WWF_ at the time was in town and they had about 20 tickets. I went and thought it was cool and thought the divas were pretty. I was 8. After that I started watching just because nothing else was on Monday. I wasn't interested in actually doing it until my dad took me to an indie show in Chicago and the women there were doing things that only men on WWE programming were doing. Then I saw Japanese wrestling and their women were doing more than women _and_ men on any WWE show. I was sold."

"Oh, so that's why you're an indie and Japan loyalist," he nodded with understanding.

"Not anymore or I wouldn't be sitting here with you right now…" she smiled bitterly.

"Do you regret your decision to sign?"

"I miss wrestling who I want when I want but I don't regret it...yet," she shook her head.

"When and who you did you lose your virginity too," he asked, switching gears.

"18 and just to some guy from my neighborhood. I didn't really like him and just wanted to get it over which is a decision I do regret. What about you?"

"I was 16 and to a girl from my school."

"16? You waited that long?" her brow rose.

"Huh?" He tilted his head in confusion. "You were 2 years older when you lost yours."

"But I wasn't a super attractive star athlete."

"But you were super attractive so what's the difference?"

"Teenage girl and teenage boy super attractive...two different levels especially if the boy is an athlete."

"How so?"

"Because you would've gotten to say, do and fuck whoever you wanted without being called a bitch, slut or mean girl. We're far from teens but even now that remains the same because you're a man," she pointed out. "Oh, did you clean up the bathroom like I asked?"

"Yes, _Mom_ ," he mocked but still smirked.

"Mom? Okay, you can clean up the table and food now too," Della replied.

"I don't even clean when I'm at home. The bathroom was alright but this, hell no!"

Della looked around. "You're not at home and it's a mess you made. I'll wrestle you for it."

"Really?" he snorted.

"Yeah, really," she moved to stand.

He stood as well and began taking his clothes off and she did the same.

"Good idea," she nodded. "I can't believe we're both wrestlers and neither of us thought to do the naked wrestling thing sooner."

"I know you like to kick and knee in the ring but that shit is off limits anywhere below the belt," he said motioning towards his nether regions.

"I would never especially since I'll need it later," she snickered.

"How do we determine a win with no ref to count the falls?"

"The loser is whoever comes first," Della informed. "Are you ready?"

They locked up, she could tell he wasn't using his full strength and she wouldn't dare ask him to. She moved to stand behind his back and tucked his face under her armpit in an inverted facelock. His body was leaned back and she reached around to stroke him. He tried to resist and wiggle out of the hold but she kept him in place long enough to cum.

"That was quick," Della laughed.

"2 out of 3 falls?" he requested. "I can confidently say this is the first time I've ever wanted to fuck my opponent,"

"Are you sure? You and Braun had some great ring chemistry," she said and his erection deflated within seconds causing her to laugh. "Oh, I guess not."

He speared her onto the bed. He wasn't using his full force but it was enough to knock the wind out of her, leaving her gasping for air.

He froze on top of her. "Did I hurt you? I thought I was being gentle. Are you okay?"

"I'm a wrestler, Joe, not some delicate flower," she replied. "Plus we landed on a mattress so of course I'm okay. I bumped harder than that last night."

"Okay, as long as you're good," he said and went back to work. He held her down with one hand as his thick fingers tweaked her nipples, moved down to spread her lips and worked her clit. She tried her best attempt to buck and wrestle out of his grasp but it was no use. Della could feel the pressure building more and more, getting hotter and hotter, the ache getting more intense, tightening in her abdomen and that spot between her legs. Her orgasm was tightening inside her, stealing her ability to breath. She went absolutely still, thrusting herself hard against his hand as the dam broke inside her.

Della collapsed back against the pillow, panting as she struggled to catch her breath, her hips jerking as another orgasmic wave rolled through her. "This next fall will determine the winner."

His phone rang causing both their heads to snap over. He grabbed it off the nightstand.

"It's Galina," he whispered as if she could hear him. Della nodded and moved away from him so he could answer. "Hey, baby, are you guys enjoying yourselves? Oh yeah? How's the family? Me? Nothing. Just sat around the hotel most of the day watching TV. Are the boys behaving themselves?"

Della decided to give him some privacy. She quietly walked over to her bag and removed a sketch pad and color pencils. When she walked in the bathroom, she noticed that he really did clean it. Spreading a towel on top of the counter, she climbed up to sit on top of it. Then she began draw two ladders in the center of the ring and a stick figure with long pink hair tilting one.

She drew until Roman's conversation with his wife ended. They weren't talking about much just general wife, husband, parent talk.

"You can come out now," he called.

"Finished?" Della said cracking the door open. "I wasn't listening or anything but I notice you told your wife you were in a hotel?"

"Yeah, I told her that I was feeling sick and exhausted last night and that I didn't know if I was going to make the 6:30 flight out of here. She agreed that I needed to stay here and rest up since she and the kids weren't home anyway. I could've gone the 'I'm at home' route but that's how people get caught up. What if she FaceTimed me? This," he said tapping the wood behind him, "is not the headboard she picked out for our bedroom."

"Smart," Della replied, continuing her sketch.

"What's that?" He asked looking over her shoulder.

She looked down at her drawing. "Some like to find their spots on YouTube, I like to draw my own."

He took the book and began flipping through the pages. He looked very impressed. She decided to stop him before he went to far back and saw sketches of himself dated long before she signed.

"You know we have another fall, right?"

Roman closed the pad much to her relief and looked at her with an amused expression. "I can tell this is your first Summerslam week. It's time to go sleep, babe. We'll have to save round 3 for another day."

"But it's only…" she paused, looking down at her phone. "9:15."

"Once we hit New York, between the events, interviews and meet and greets we won't have a moment's rest so I'm going to try to get all the rest I can while I can," he yawned.

"Speaking of interviews, you're going to be appearing on a late show this Friday, huh?"

"Yeah with Ronda."

"About that…you and Ronda. I-"

Roman shook his head, cutting her off. "Please don't tell me you're jealous of me going with Ronda. I don't want her and I doubt she wants me."

"Well she stole a married man from his wife and kids and got engaged to him while he was still married so I wouldn't put it past her but no, I'm not jealous of you going with Ronda because you're _not_ going with Ronda. Ronda is going to Ellen to promote Summerslam. Ellen's show tapes in California and after she leaves, she's scheduled to do some other promo events on the West Coast. The show we're going to tapes in New York."

"We're?" his brows knitted when he asked.

"Yes, me and you. They're having me take her place."

"Are you going to be able to handle this?" he asked, sitting up on his elbows.

"Excuse me? I am a professional. It's not like I'm going to jump in your lap and start humping you on national television," Della scoffed. "You are not that cute."

"Lies," he said, dropping his head back down on his pillow. "What time is your flight?"

"8:30," Della stood to go to the bathroom. She noticed the mess and food was still how they left it. Oh well, she'd clean it before she left in the morning. Her foot kicked her bag as she moved it out of the way and she heard rattling. The pain pills. She didn't need them anymore and flushed them down the toilet.

Roman was in the same position she left him. His chest rose and fell accompanied by faint snoring. She moved to lay on his chest.

"Joe? Joe!" she shook him lightly but he didn't budge. She just wanted to say goodnight but now that he was out, she could say much more. "Thank you so much for today. We didn't do anything but talk, eat and fuck but it was one of the best days of my life. Mainly because it was only us and our carefree moments for a full 24 hours...well 20 if you count my cooking adventure. _I love you_. There, I said it."

He stirred, groaning in his sleep but he didn't wake.

Della woke up the next morning alone to a deafening silence. When she looked on the floor his bags were gone. She checked her phone, no message and there wasn't a note on the nightstand either. She buried her head into the pillow and screamed as loud as she could. Not this shit again.

There was no use moping around about it. Della was furious with herself for going down this road with him again just for it to end this way. She told him if he ever did this to her again it was over and it was. At least he cleaned the food and table before deserting her.

Most of her stuff was already packed so when she went in the bathroom all she had to do was brush her teeth and shower. She slid the shower door open and stepped inside. When she went to slid it close she noticed a note on hotel stationary stuck to the glass.

 _Surprise! I hope the time between when you woke and when you found this note wasn't too long. Sorry babe, lol. You were sleeping so peacefully and I didn't want to wake you. Wake you especially since you're flight is at 8:30 and mine was at 6. I left at 5 to get ahead of any prying eyes in the lobby. I guess I'll keep in touch since my family still isn't home yet. See you Friday in NY._

 **Della: Ass. Hole.**

 **Joe: Yea, yours is very nice. ;-)**

 **Della: U home yet?**

 **Joe: Walking thru Tampa International now.**

 **Della: I just got out of the shower so once I get dressed I'm heading to the airport here.**

 **Joe: Cool. I'll call u later.**

Della picked up a blonde wig before heading to the airport. She couldn't risk being identified especially with Roman being at the same airport earlier. ' _Both Roman Reigns and Della Stone hung around in Greensboro, North Carolina of all places for an extra day after Raw?'_ It wouldn't be hard to put two and two together.

 **Della: Can u pick me up from the airport?**

 **Marina: Where's Joe & why can't he.?**

 **Della: -_-**

 **Marina: Omw.**

 **Della: Hurry, I have some sketches I drew last night for u to look at.**

 **Marina: Oh so u actually managed to get a little work during ur sexcapade.**

 **Della: We didn't even have that much sex. Anywho, how did training w/Sasha and Bayley go.**

 **Marina: Between what we came up with yesterday and whatever u bring to the table today, if Sasha doesn't die or kill one of us, we may have a match of the year contender on our hands.**

* * *

"I'm going to start doing my makeup in advance or hire a makeup artist I can trust to accompany me on appearances because the in-house makeup artist has me looking like a man cosplaying me," Della complained as she used makeup wipes to remove everything.

"What are you going to say if she comes back?" Marina asked.

"I cried, smearing everything up so I had to take it all off," Della shrugged, starting from scratch with foundation.

"I can't wait to see how this interview with you two plays out," Marina smirked, sitting on the arm of the coach in Della's dressing room.

"Spoiler alert: it's going to go fine with nothing scandalous for you to harp on," Della replied.

There was a knock on the door. The show didn't start until another 30 minutes so she knew it wasn't time to go out. Maybe it was one of the show runners bringing her information. "Can you get that for me, Marina?"

"Sure," Marina said walking over. She opened it and instantly closed it back. "It's nobody."

"What?" Della was confused by Marina's reaction until it hit her. "Let him in."

"Fine," Marina grumbled, opening the door and stepping aside.

Roman entered looking very handsome in his fitted suit and slicked back hair.

"I'm going to tell you two right now. This is show business where everybody is looking for a story. When an intern writes a blind item about seeing a married wrestler hanging in the dressing room alone with a female wrestler, it'll be what you deserve," Marina spat.

"Alone? But you're in here," Della replied.

"I am? Let me fix that because if I stay the blind item will be ' _married wrestler participates in threesomes with best friend pair_ '," Marina said, leaving and closing the door behind her.

"You been snooping around in my closet?" Roman questioned, looking at her burgundy dress. That's the moment she noticed his burgundy tie.

She slowly approached him and reached up to tighten his tie. He smelled like expensive cologne. "Nope but maybe our senses are connected."

Roman took a small step back. "My wife is with me."

Those sentence hit her like a bucket of ice water. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Joe, you do not have to apologize for bringing your wife anywhere with you. This is kind of what I signed up for," Della replied bitterly, going back to her chair to finish her makeup.

She could see him approach her from behind in the mirror. He silently watched her paint her face. "You're so beautiful."

"Thanks," she replied. "Like Marina said, you may want to leave before anyone back here gets suspicious especially since your wife is with you and didn't come in here."

"I guess you're right," he said slowly walking towards the door. "I'll see you out there."

Della met Marina in the hallway about 5 minutes until showtime.

"Are you ready?"

"Yep, the only thing I'm worried about is remembering my talking points but Roman is a corporate shill so he'll pick up my slack."

They were about to start walking when Roman's dressing room door swung open. He walked out first and froze when he saw them standing there. That's when _she_ walked out behind him. Just like the last time Galina looked Della up and down.

Roman cleared his throat. "Oh, hey, this is my wife, Galina. Galina this is Della and that's Marina."

"Hi, nice to meet you," Della addressed Galina, trying her best not to come across as awkward.

"I love that dress. Who is it by?" Galina asked. "The last time I saw you backstage at Raw you had on something that I liked but I had my kids with me and decided not to walk over."

"Dior," Della replied. It was a relief to know that Galina only eyed her that day for fashion purposes. Looking down at Galina's feet she felt it would be appropriate to return a compliment. "And I love those shoes."

"Prada, a gift from my hubby," G gushed, smiling at Roman.

"Uh, so, I'm just going to take my place in the audience before the show starts," Marina said interrupting the moment.

"You're going to the audience? We can sit together," Galina offered, grabbing Marina's arm. "I'll see you later, honey."

Roman didn't respond, watching them dart around the corner.

Della exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Oh...my...God."

Roman turned his back to her, shaking his head and running a hand over his face as if he was silently arguing with himself.

"Joe, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay," he snapped. "Do you remember what I told you the night we met?"

"You told me a lot of things," she replied.

"About why I didn't mess with any of the women backstage? Of course at that moment I never thought you'd end up backstage."

 _"I don't shit where I eat," he said. "Too messy plus I bring my lady backstage every now and then and I don't want any of them acting like they have something over her or being fake nice to her."  
_  
"Oh, that," Della said after she remembered. "It's not like I wanted that to happen. I was uncomfortable as hell but if I ran when your door opened or kept it short, she may have gotten suspicious."

"I've been betraying her this entire affair but that exchange really put things in perspective. Imagine how hurt she'll be if this ever came to light knowing that I had her face to face with the other woman. I didn't want to do it but like you said it would've looked suspicious if I hadn't," he said and Della could tell this really bothered him.

"I just hope we never have any further run ins."

"Me too."

Within minutes the shows theme played and the host's opening monologue began. When he finished talking about everything from politics to pop culture, he made their introductions. "She's been here to my show before as a jack of all trades and he's a 3 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. On Sunday, they'll both hit the ring at the Barclay's Center for the annual WWE event, Summerslam. Please welcome my first guests of the night, WWE Superstars Della Stone and Roman Reigns."

When she walked out she could see Marina and Galina clapping in the front row and she heard a few scattered boos for Roman which told her that wrestling fans were in the building. Good, sometimes it was hard talking wrestling to an audience who had no idea what she was talking about.

Della sat on the sofa first and then Roman sat leaving enough space between them to fit another person and a dog.

WWE personally put together and sent in the highlight reel playing on the monitor at the moment.

"Wow, after watching both of you in action, I can honestly say that….I'm not sure which of you has better hair," the host joked. "Roman what do you do?"

"I don't do much actually. I wash it a couple times a week and use a leave in conditioner every night. That's it," Roman replied.

"He wins," Della said and the crowd laughs. "Do you know how many steps and products I have to go through to manage my hair compared to his simple routine? Reason number one million and eight on the list of things I hate about men."

"What are the other million and seven?" The host asked.

Della shook her head. "See, I'd tell you but this is only a one hour show, buddy."

"Last time you were here, you told me you were single," the host said and Della sunk a little in her seat knowing where this was going. "You and Roman look great sitting there together."

"I'm still single but I'm definitely not looking to make a boyfriend out of a married father of three," Della laughed it off and she saw Roman shift uncomfortably.

"Yeah, research wasn't done before this segment," Roman chuckled. "I'm a happily married man. As a matter of fact, my beautiful wife is here with me tonight." The camera panned to Galina and she smiled, blushing slightly as the audience clapped.

"Summerslam," the host started and Della breathed a sigh of relief that the conversation was getting stirred off of their personal lives. "Tell me about it?"

"It's the second biggest event of our year. We have the SummerSlam matchups and so much going on within the community throughout the week, that's what's really cool. We're here in New York. It's the heart of the wrestling world, the sports entertainment world, and there's just this extra kind of energy within the New York City area. Whether it's Madison Square Garden, the Barclays, Nassau on Long Island, even when we do WrestleManias at MetLife. It's always a great experience. This is my going to be my 6th Summerslam and Della's first," Roman said, putting her on the spot.

"I didn't even know Della wrestled. Her first appearance was promoting the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover and her second was a movie. When I saw her name, I wondered ' _what the hell does she have going on now_?'"

Della laughed. "Wrestling is my baby and I've been doing it for over a decade. But yes, this is my first Summerslam and I'm very excited. It's the absolute biggest event of the summer. It's going to be an action packed show filled with standout moments and compelling in-ring stories. I'll be wrestling with my best fiend who is in the audience tonight in a tag match against Sasha Banks and Bayley."

"What's the story?" The host inquired.

"We're besties, they're besties. Both of us think we're better than the other. So deep, I know. We went out there this past Monday and wrestled our hearts out but I have a feeling there's going to be some incentive for us to step it up a knock, _literally_ , on Sunday," Della winked into the camera.

"And Roman, you will be facing Brock Lesnar…"

"Yes, and hopefully it'll be the last. After Sunday I'll walk out as the Universal champion because Raw deserves a champ that's actually here. Let him go back to UFC because that's where his passion and focus is right now."

"Speaking of UFC, Ronda Rousey, how do you feel about her, Della?"

"She's great and is progressing exceptionally well," Della answered.

"Do you think you can take her in a wrestling match?"

"The question should be can _she_ take _me_ in a wrestling match. Normally I wouldn't agree with anything Alexa Bliss says but I have to give it to her when she said Ronda is a rookie because she is especially to someone with my experience," Della replied. Della saw the camera crew signaling behind the camera.

"Alright, you can see Della and Roman Sunday at Summerslam live on the WWE Network. Visit for more details," the host said sending the show to commercial.

"That went well," Della said as she and Roman made it backstage.

"I like how you handled that single question," he replied.

"I told you I'm a professional. I wasn't going to start blushing, giggling like a school and acting coy with your wife right there!"

"That was so fun!" Marina's voice said loudly. She wasn't visible yet but Della figured this was her way of notifying them that they were here so Della put some distance between herself and Roman.

"It was," Galina agreed, turning the corner.

Roman walked forward to meet her in a likely attempt to prevent another interaction. Della took this opportunity to slip inside her dressing room.

Marina joined her. "Well, you survived. Do you know Delman is trending right now?"

"Who or what is a Delman?"

"You and Roman's ship name. Della, Roman, Delman. As soon as you two appeared on screen together Twitter went wild," Marina said, showing Della some of the tweets.

Someone knocked on their door, temporarily distracting them. When Marina opened it it was Galina with an uncomfortable Roman behind her.

"I just wanted to say," Galina started. Della was shaking, not knowing what to expect. "It was nice meeting you two."

"It was nice meeting you as well," Della forced out. Her throat was dry with nervous apprehension.

"We're going to get out of here," Roman said, not looking at Della as he guided his wife out of the doorway.

G snaked her arm behind his back as they walked. "I wonder if the kids are still up?"

When Marina closed the door, Della collapsed on the sofa dropping her head into her hands. "I feel so bad. Why is she so nice? Why can't she be a stuck up bitch like some of the other WWE WAGs?"

"You feel bad. Do you bad enough to end it?" Marina asked.

"Maybe."

"That's a no," Marina snorted. "You can't say this lady is so nice, I feel bad for fucking her husband and then say _maybe_ I'll stop fucking her husband. It doesn't work like that."

"I know, I know. I just," Della sighed, shaking her head. "It feels like I'm drowning. I know what I have to do but it's hard because everything happened so fast and now I'm in too deep. I blew off a crucial training session with you, Sasha and Bayley to spend time with him. That's not me. When have I ever let a man interfere with my work? I just want to feel normal again where I don't have to hide and sneak around anymore. I'm constantly walking on my tiptoes backstage because I'm scared I'll say or do something that'll give us away. I know it has to end but how?"

"You messed up when you started catching feelings. If you kept it strictly sex it would be easy to detach yourself from him."

"Who says I have feelings for him?" Della protested.

"Bitch," was all Marina had to say as she tilted her head.

"You're right," Della finally admitted but she wouldn't dare reveal to Marina that she thought she loved him. "I think we need space. If I'm away from him I think it'll be easier for us to fall apart. If we stay on the main roster after Summerslam I want to start rooming with you again."

"We'll see how long that lasts," Marina replied. "Come on, let's get out of here because we have a long day of signing and events ahead of us tomorrow."

* * *

Roman had a lot on his mind as he did press interviews. It got boring after the 3rd because the same questions were being asked over and over again by each journalist and media outlet. _'How do you feel about the fans reaction to you?' 'You've faced Brock so many times, what makes your match at Summerslam any different?' 'Would you consider aligning yourself with Paul Heyman?' 'Dean Ambrose is finally back, how do you feel about another Shield reunion?'_

On his way to his meet and greet signing, he ran into Marina on the elevator. Marina rolled her eyes at him, he was used to that greeting by now. He saw Della earlier in the hotel lobby and she didn't make much eye contact with him which told him that she was feeling weird about last night, too.

He didn't want to hurt Della since he cared about her but at the same time he was hurting his wife without her knowledge and that killed him inside. Seeing them smile in each other's face hit too close to home for him.

"How much longer do you think you and Della can go on?" Marina asked, breaking the silence.

"Marina, look," he began.

"I wasn't finished!" she replied sharply. "This may come as a shock to you but Della Stone is not made of stone. So when you decide you want to be a good husband again, who do you think is going to be there to pick up the pieces? Me! I've been there from the day you first saw her and I'll be there the day you're done with her! I should've came to you a long time ago about this."

" _The day I'm done with her?_ You're talking to me like I don't care about her! I do, more than she probably knows and I don't have to explain that shit to you!"

"Oh, you care about her? That's cute. You think that makes it any better? At the end of the day you're nothing but another guy fucking around on his wife. You want to prove you care about Della? Leave Galina, Jojo and whatever the hell those twins are named! Tell them you pick Della. Della, a woman you just met over your wife, a woman who had three of your kids and stayed with you when you weren't shit...and _obese_ ," Marina replied.

Roman was at a loss for words. He didn't like the way she was saying it but Marina was right. He knew what he was doing was fucked up, he knew it every time he looked in the mirror, when he looked at Della, when he looked at his kids and especially when he looked at Galina. He knew they had to end but it was going to be hard for him to walk away from Della just like it was going to be hard for Della to walk away from him. He wasn't sure if he could go back on the road, pretend they never happened and spend lonely nights in his hotel room again but on the flip side he wouldn't want to live life if Galina ever found out and he had to go home to an empty house without her and the kids. He needed time to think without all the hoopla of Summerslam weekend on his mind.

The elevator dinged and Marina stormed off first. He walked out of the hotel and saw her get into a car that appeared to have Della, Sadie and Tierra in it. They were probably on their way to the Barclays Center where meet and greets were being held.

Roman's turnout was massive and his signing went great as always. He loved his fan base and the diversity of it. That's why he never let the negativity from a select few get to him.

When he looked across the way, Team Bold and Bitchy had a long line as well. It must've been going well because Della was constantly smiling. That made him wonder how their inevitable end would affect her. He knew she wasn't the type to cause scenes or expose him but he would hate himself if he caused her to lose that smile. Hopefully she would realize that she deserved a better man than him. Someone who could take her out in public, someone who could express the way he felt about her and someone who could be with her all the time instead of at night or when their family was out of town.

After the meet and greet was over, it seemed Delesia was going out of her way to avoid not only his gaze but him when she decided to walk the long out on the other side instead of walking in front of his table where an exit was. He understood and didn't blame her.

On the outside of the arena, they had no other choice but to be near each other since they parked in the same area. There was crowd gathered behind the gates.

He was just going to wave and duck off into his vehicle but one little brown girl caught his attention. "Roman! Della! Roman!"

She appeared to be sickly and frail as she called out to both him and Delesia. When he approached he noticed that she wore his 'Unleash the Big Dog' shirt and a B&B bandana around her head. He didn't notice any hair under it. _Cancer_. As a father it hurt seeing children affected by these illnesses and being in the WWE and a part of Make a Wish he came in contact with them all the time.

When he looked around he noticed Della watching cautiously, not knowing what to do. He motioned for her to come over and she did.

Della hugged the little girl. "Does anyone have a marker so I can sign her bandana?"

"Here!" one fan volunteered.

"Can you two take a picture with her?" the child's mother asked.

"Sure," Roman replied. He and Della stood on both of her sides. Roman put his arm around the girl's shoulder but it reached Della's waist as well.

"You two look like a Mom and Dad," another fan yelled from the back and he felt Della's back tense under his fingers.

"Are you coming to the show tomorrow?" Della asked the Mom.

"Unfortunately, no. We just came here to see if we can spot some Superstars."

Della sighed. "I had 5 seats reserved in the front row for my mom, dad, sister, niece and nephew. My niece and nephew's father decided to be an as..uh, a-hole and kept them since he has weekend custody so that leaves me with two extra seats."

"Oh my god, you're an Angel," the mom said and Roman agreed.

"I know you're feeling weird about what happened yesterday and so am I," Roman said as they walked away from the crowd towards their cars again.

"Yeah…"

"We need to talk," he replied. "Give me your room number and I'll swing by when I get a moment to myself."

"Okay," she replied. "Joe, I-" she didn't get a chance to finish because Marina blew the horn. "I have to go."

Later that night he had dinner at the hotel with his cousins, Josh and Jon. They were getting ready to wrap up when Della, Marina and their crew walked in. They were all wearing gowns and he assumed they were coming from one of the corporate charity events.

Josh whistled, noticing them. "That goddamn Della, I'm not even mad at you anymore over hitting that."

"You know we got on your ass about what you did but if a man is going to have one last indiscretion, make it count," Jon said. "We just didn't want you to get caught up, Big Uce. If it happened to one of us everyone would've said ' _oh well, they had a good run_ ' but look at your position compared to ours. You would've never lived that shit down."

"Yeah, I know," Roman replied. He wouldn't dare give away that he was still risking his career. Marina dug into him enough earlier, he didn't need a double lashing from his cousins right now.

"How is she?" Josh asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You two are on the same brand so is she making things awkward? Not to mention that interview you two had to do together," Josh expounded.

"Oh, she's cool. She doesn't say anything to me, I don't say nothing to her. If we cross paths, she shakes my hand and I shake hers. Hell, sometimes I forget that shit even happened," Roman lied.

"That's a relief," Jon nodded. "You got a good woman, Uce. You don't need to jeopardize your marriage with a backstage scandal."

"Don't I know it. Speaking of good woman, I'm going to head up to her now," Roman said standing to his feet.

When he arrived in the room he noticed it was empty but when he walked in further he saw the door to the connecting room open and Galina was standing over the bed of the kids tucking them in. Jojo's head was to the side sleep and the boys appeared to be lulling but they weren't asleep.

Galina looked up and saw him standing there. She immediately shooed him away. He went. He knew that if the boys caught sight of him, they'd want to get up and play. After about 10 minutes, she entered their room and carefully swung the door closed, leaving a small crack. Even after that she stood there watching them through the space for another few minutes. It was little things like that that made him smile. She was a loving wife and even better mother.

"You made it back," she commented.

"Yeah, I need my rest for tomorrow," he replied.

"Which is exactly why I made you get out of the doorway. They weren't going to want to go to sleep and you weren't going to make them," she laughed. "Trin just left."

"Oh, what did you two have going on?"

"Nothing much, she came to see the kids and we talked for a little while. She kept me up to date with the gossip going around," she paused for thought before speaking again. "If you were interested in someone else you'd tell me, right?"

"Whoa, what?" That question stopped his heart. Where was this coming from? Trinity? Della wasn't talking so how would Trin know anything unless Jon let it slip about what happened years ago? But wouldn't Jon have given him a heads up? They were just at dinner together and brought up the subject. This was it. His deception finally caught up with him. He was terrified but couldn't physically react but his mind was racing. He saw his entire life from the moment he met Galina at Georgia Tech flash before his eyes. A small desperate part of him thought to deny whatever came out of her mouth next but that would get him nowhere. The only thing he knew to do was come clean, grovel at her feet, beg for her forgiveness and let her know that he'd do anything to prove that he loved her and the kids. He'd promise her that it would never happen again and that he'd do everything in his power to earn her trust and respect back.

"It's stupid, don't worry about it," she waved it off which made him wonder if they were thinking about the same thing.

"No, I can't let a question like that go, babe," he turned her to face him and caught her eye meaningfully.

She sighed. "I don't know. I socialized with some of the wives and girlfriends earlier today and they were extra paranoid about the girls backstage, interviewers included. They even asked me if you've ever mentioned anything about their man and one of the women. Then Trin came over and spilled tea about who was messing with who and a few of the men had girlfriends at home. For a split second I felt naive for never paying attention to the women until recently and that's when I noticed there are some beautiful new faces walking around here."

"Like who?"

"That latina I met backstage on the late show."

"Never noticed or said two words to her until that night," he shrugged.

"And that Maddy Rose…"

"She's not my type."

"And what is your type?"

Damn, he walked right into that one. "You."

"Okay, girls with my aesthetic. Women of color, big hair, nice ass," she trailed off and appeared to be thinking. "Sasha but she's married, Jojo is with Bray. That leaves Della."

"I'm not interested in Della and judging by her response in the interview, she's not interested in me either," he assured her, knowing that response could easily come back to haunt him. "You don't have to worry about any of them replacing you or having what we have. You also don't have to trust any of the women but trust me...trust me."

Roman hated lying to her but he knew he couldn't leave any doubt in his mind. To think a few months ago, the line about trusting him would've been true.

The situation was _really_ hitting too close to home now and it would only be a matter of time before shit hit the fan. It was a fucked up situation for everyone involved. There was no doubt in his mind what had to happen and soon. But how?

* * *

"I have a feeling I'm going to have to disinvite Mom to the show tonight," Della shook her head, laughing as she stuffed a strip of bacon in her mouth along with a forkful of pancake. She was sitting on her suite's balcony having breakfast with her sister. "When I told her that it was going to be a ladder match she went OFF as if I haven't been doing this shit for 12 years."

"You know how paranoid she was back in the day about us getting marks, bruises or broken limbs when we were in pageants. Same shit, different occupations," Denesia chuckled. "Last night she went on and on about how sexy Roman was and I died."

"Oh God," Della grimaced.

"We're an hour ahead of Chicago which means it's 9 there so my kids should be up by now. I'm going to go in here to check on them."

"Hey, bring my phone off the charger when you return," Della replied. She was a little nervous about tonight. This was the second biggest show of the year and she'd be doing it in front of one of the smarkiest crowds. She couldn't let any of the crowd reactions or chants get to her tonight because in a ladder match there was no room for distraction or error.

She heard a knock on her door.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Denesia asked.

"Yeah, H asked us to come to the arena early to run through some of the big ladder spots so it's probably Marina," Della replied.

She was in direct view of the door from where she sat on the balcony. The lights were off but she could still see a little in there from the sunlight.

She heard Denesia squeal before opening the door. When Roman walked in the room, he leaned down to kiss ' _her'_ and Denesia jumped on him. She began kissing him wildly, wrapping her legs around his waist. He cupped her ass and she reached down to grab his penis.

Della stood and aggressively cleared her throat which caused Roman to look over.

His eyes grew with shock as he reached for the light switch. He looked from Denesia to Della and back again. "Shit!"

"I'm a better kisser, huh?" Denesia laughed. "I'm going to give you two some alone time while I walk down to Mom and Dad's room."

"No, stay here so you can cross a few more boundaries," Della sarcastically replied.

"Don't tempt me," Denesia said, tracing Roman's jawline with her finger. "Until we meet again, my love."

Roman waited until the door slammed shut before saying anything. "I should've known that wasn't you for two reasons. The first, the ass wasn't as plump when I gripped it. The second, the way you were avoiding me yesterday I should've known you wouldn't have greeted me with that much… _enthusiasm_."

"It wasn't that I was avoiding you, I just needed some time to think and space," she replied.

"I know exactly where you're coming from," he nodded with understanding. He moved to sit on the bed and she joined him. "How do you think our relationship is going?"

"I thought it was going excellent until Friday night," she sighed thinking about the encounter all over again. "It's crazy because Tuesday was the highest point in our relationship and just days later here we are."

"I agree. It was going great until _that_ incident. I don't know what to do," he dropped his head. Della knew that he knew what to do but like her, he didn't know how to go about it either. "Me and you have a connection that's too deep to pull ourselves out of. Galina is my wife and it goes without saying that I can't hurt her but I don't want to let you go."

"So what are we going to do, Joe?" Della asked. If he was going to do it, he needed to do it. Rip the freaking bandaid off, get it over with and hope there'd be no hard feelings left behind. Sure, it'd hurt her but as the saying went: all good things must come to an end.

"I don't know, D, that's what I'm saying. I'm so fucking confused right now."

"I am too."

"I think we need to wait until the excitement from Summerslam dies down and decide what we want to do and how or _if_ we want to move forward," he said. He leaned his head down to her but their lips never touched, their foreheads did instead and she revelled in this intimate connection. "Right girl, wrong time. When it's all said and done don't you ever think I didn't care about you, Delesia."

"I'm not doubting that," she replied.

"You're not but after the encounter I had with Marina in the elevator yesterday I fear she'll try to put those thoughts in your head."

"What encounter?" She asked pulling back.

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" he snorted. "Figures but I will say it was mostly true so I'm not mad at her. Anyway, I have to get back to my room. I told my wife I was going to the gym and I did but I had to stop by and see you."

"Okay, good luck tonight," she called behind him as he walked away.

"You too. I know how you roll and like to go all out so be careful on those ladders, babe," he replied before slipping out of the room.

Della opened the door for Marina about 20 minutes later. She was dressed in workout clothes as she brushed by Della to enter the room.

Marina plopped down on the bed, ignoring the glares Della sent here way. "Sarah pulled up on me in the lobby. She walked up and said in a very nice-nasty way, ' _Hi, I'm Sarah, Colby's girlfriend and I just wanted to meet the girl riding front seat with him to every show._ ' She better be lucky fans with smartphones were in the area. She's even luckier I have no desire to hook up with him because I'd do it just for spite."  
 **  
**"Fuck Seth, fuck Sarah and fuck you, too!" Della hissed.

"Oooh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Marina's brows rose. "Today is Summerslam. What are you mad about?"

"I'm mad about you saying whatever you said or did to Joe in the elevator yesterday!"

"Oh, that?" Marina scoffed. "Tell me why you're mad? Did you not say the night before that you wanted to end things? I was just speeding things along."

"Yes, I did say that and I meant it but it's not your place to interfere," she argued.

"Whatever. I don't care anymore. My mind is on this ladder match tonight and in order for us to get through it we have to trust each other and we can't do that if we stand here and fall out again over the same stupid shit from last time. We've had more drama between us in the span of a few months than we've ever had in our friendship."

"I totally agree. Give me ten minutes to get dressed and we can go. Can you call Sasha and Bayley to let them know we'll be leaving soon?" Della said, walking in the bathroom. "I really hope they don't do the cringe 'making history' announcement where all 4 of us are standing in the ring and Stephanie and H come out with a long winded speech while the camera zooms in on our emotional faces and all that jazz."

"The only thing I didn't like was that snap dragon suplex through the ladder. That's a move that can break someone's neck on a the regular canvas," Triple H dissected. "I'm pretty sure you ladies know this already but it's my honor to announce officially that at the end of the match, Sasha and Bayley will be the inaugural WWE female tag team champions."

Della and Marina clapped for Sasha and Bayley. There was no hard feelings since she was aware that they wouldn't win it in the first place. Those two deserved it especially since their match at Takeover was the first time Della acknowledged the progress that WWE was making in the 'Divas' division.

"And whatever you do, be careful," H stressed.

The show started and they sat in the locker room preparing.

"Why didn't we think to get any special gear made?" Della grumbled as she watched some of the other girls and their new gear.

"What's the point? Yours would have still been black and depressing," Marina chuckled.

"Like my heart…" Della laughed.

"Fifteen minutes girls," Sasha notified, warming up with stretches in the corner.

"Alright, let me say a prayer real quick," Della went down on her knees and began mumbled until she got to the end. "...and please God don't let Sasha break her fucking neck because I don't want it on my conscience."

"I heard that," Sasha said.

"Good!" Della shot back.

Thankfully, they didn't make a big show of the women's tag team titles. Instead of doing the making history song and dance, they let the titles speak for themselves, stringing them up and raising them to a huge ovation.

"The following contest is a ladder match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. The first woman to climb the ladder and will win and become in the first champions," Jojo announced before Sasha's theme played.

When Della and Marina walked out, they noticed a ladder set up by the entrance ramp that they walked under. The last thing they needed was bad luck but Della wasn't superstitious so fuck it. There were three ladders set up on the floor ringside and a few sticking out from under the ring. _Nice._

When the four of them were in the ring, they made a show of looking up at the titles in awe. The nervousness on all of their faces wasn't acting however.

Nobody immediately went to grab a ladder. Bayley and Marina began trading strikes and Della slid out of the ring and grabbed a closed ladder. Sasha ran off of the ropes and got a suicide dive off on Della while Della was still holding the ladder. The impact took both women out and they were laid out on the floor.

It was up to Marina or Bayley now. They fought on the top turnbuckle and Marina hurricanrana's Bayley to the outside of the ring. Marina set up a ladder in the center of the ring and began to climb to the sound of a huge pop but Sasha recovered, sliding back into the ring to pull Marina down.

Sasha was halfway up the ladder when Della slid back into the ring, ladder in hand and propped it up in the corner. Marina did the same with another ladder in the opposite corner. Della snatched Sasha down and whipped her into the propped ladder to a loud crash. Della then slingshotted Sasha to Marina who whipped Sasha into the other ladder.

Before Della could celebrate, Bayley came from behind and gave her a nasty Bayley to Belly into the ladder set up in the center of the ring. She could hear her mother screaming from the front row. While Della was laid out on top of the ladder, Sasha went to the top rope and tried to capitalize with a frog splash but Della rolled out of the way last second so Sasha landed on the ladder instead.

The crowd was really eating the action up and it felt awesome knowing that they personally put the match together. Marina tossed Della a ladder and Della set it up over Sasha's sprawled out body. Della began climbing but Bayley grabbed her foot. Sighing, Della kicked back, landing her blow on Bayley's head. Della then climbed down.

"What are you doing?" Marina yelled at her. "They're both down. Now's our chance!"

"No, we have to make sure they're down," Della yelled back.

She goes and sets up a ladder on top of the barricade in front of her family and the little girl with cancer and across the ring apron like a bridge. She attempted to go for the dragon suplex spot Triple H banned. She knew he was probably going crazy backstage watching her set it up but Bayley countered it and backdropped Della outside of the ring and into the ladder. The ladder broke from impact. Della hissed from the sting, she'd definitely feel that in the morning.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!" the crowd chanted thankfully drowning out Della's mom yelling at her.

In the ring, Sasha recovered and was a few steps away from grabbing the belt but Marina standing at the foot of the ladder began shaking it. Sasha carefully turned around and dropped double knees on Marina from the sky.

After that Sasha begins climbing again but Della recovers and slams a ladder into Sasha's back knocking her down.

Della attempts to climb the ladder but Bayley cuts her off and attempts to powerbomb her into the corner turnbuckle. Della escapes the powerbomb attempt and goes back onto the ladder. Bayley cuts her off again and kicks Della's ass in the center of the ring. Marina with a comeback reverse rana on Bayley from behind that landed her into a ladder that was set up in the corner from earlier.

Sasha started climbing the ladder while they were celebrating Bayley's fall. Della started climbing on the other side of the same ladder. When both women made it to the top they each reached for the titles with dueling "Sasha" and "Della" chants. Della punched Sasha, Sasha punched back and they went on to slug it out until they both fell, crumbling on the canvas.

Marina is outside. She slides a ladder from underneath the ring. Bayley was still folded over inside the ring from the reverse hurricanrana. She yanks Bayley's body to the outside and kills her with brutal Canadian Destroyer onto the ladder. Della could hear Graves going crazy on commentary over that spot.

Della rose to her feet, stumbling but Marina was there to help her balance. They both looked around seeing their opponents laid out. The crowd was on their feet knowing that Team B&B had nothing but space, time and opportunity to clinch the win.

Della and Marina huddled near the ropes in front of the cameraman so he could pick up the audio for the viewers at home. "Okay, Bayley is down. She's done. Sasha is down too but she's stirring. The way I see it, if we're quick enough she can't get us both. Therefore we need two ladders. You climb one, I climb the other. Even if she gets to her feet, she'll only be able to take one of us down while the other snatches the gold."

"Excellent plan," Marina nodded. "Let's do it."

This was the finishing sequence happening the way Della sketched it. Just like they discussed, Marina climbed one ladder, Della climbed the other. As she looked over the crowd, she made eye contact with Galina who clapped for her. Seeing that made Della lose her step and she had to clutch the sides of the ladder to not fall. Standing 6 feet above the ring was no time to be shook.

As they both ascend, Marina grabs Della's left hand and they both reach for the titles with their right hands. That is until Della feels her ladder being tilted. When Della looked down, Sasha was tilting her ladder with every bit of strength she had. When Della's ladder tumbled, it brought down Maria's ladder like a domino effect. They both landed outside of the ring in front of the commentator's booth.

Della was slow to get up but when she did, she tried to check on Marina. Meanwhile, Sasha was climbing the ladder. Della looked between Sasha climbing and back down at Marina.

"Don't worry about me. Stop that bitch!" Marina yelled with her eyes closed and her head crooked to the side.

Della was climbing between the ropes when Bayley came from behind and held her legs. Della helplessly tried to break free but it was no use. She was held in place watching the only thing that hadn't been done in this match: climb the ladder and grab the title.

"The winners of this match and the first Women's Tag Team Champions, Sasha and Bayley, The Boss and Hug Connection!"

* * *

Marina hit the curtain first and turned around to find Della behind her. They were met with clapping but unlike last time they were genuinely receptive to it. She spotted Roman clapping too, his eyes locked on Della. He looked so proud. Marina shook her head and turned her back to him, looking to the curtains as the first tag champs made their way in.

"Great match," Marina said shaking Bayley and then Sasha's hand. Della did the same.

"Well, you didn't win the title like I did but you won match of the night," Seth said, putting his arm around her shoulder and drawing her in tight. She saw the Intercontinental belt on his other shoulder.

"You may want to move that arm because if your girlfriend approaches me over you again I'm not going to keep it cute like I did this morning," Marina shrugged him off.

"What? When?"

"I just said this morning. If you want to know the details, you'll have to ask her," she replied.

Della slowly packed her bags. "I don't know if you noticed but I almost fell off of the ladder during that last spot."

"Yeah, I did notice you kind of lose your balance over there. What was up with that?"

"G was cheering for me. It was very unsettling and I wanted to die!" Della whispered.

"Welp, that's what guilt does to a person," Marina shrugged. "The question is what are you going to do about it."

They were packed and ready to go but Della was finding every excuse to remain in the building. Marina wasn't stupid, she knew she was trying to watch the finish to Roman vs Brock. When Roman won Della jumped at least 4 feet in the air in celebration.

"You saw what you wanted to see now let's get to the hotel. I'm tired and sore as fuck and I know you're feeling the same," Marina said.

Marina heard Della tossing and turning in her bed all night. It was after 2 AM when Marina finally relented. "Okay, okay, what's wrong?"

"You don't want to hear it," Della said, pulling the covers over her head.

"If getting whatever it is off of your chest will help you go to sleep which will help me go to sleep, I'm all ears."

"It feels weird not sleeping next to him right now because I've been there in his bed throughout the build to this but I'm away from him when the story finally ends," Della replied and Marina shook her head in the darkness.

"First of all, they've been building Roman taking the title off of Brock for like 3 years now. You were just there for the climax, _literally_."

"You're absolutely right," Della admitted. "I need to stop acting like I'm _supposed_ to be around him. Thinking like that is not going to help me move forward. He's probably in his room breaking the title in with Galina while I lay here with insomnia."

 _Good_ , she was coming to terms with the thought of them ending soon. With that thought, Marina rolled over and fell sound asleep.

The next evening Marina left Della behind, arriving at Raw ahead of time to meet with Triple H. Della told her that it wasn't her place to interfere but she didn't care. She knew if 'Delman' kept prolonging their split it would never end. He'd eventually get over the guilt and she'd let him back in. Della claimed she needed to put space between them, Marina was going to make sure of it.

"You asked to see me?" Triple H said, opening his door.

"Yes, I did," she said taking a seat in front of his desk. "Do you know what our plans are now that the Summerslam match is done? Are we going back to NXT?"

"Hell no! You're selling out merch, the crowd is behind you and Della is an outstanding representative for us," he replied. "Vince is ready to make your stay on the main roster permanent."

"Where?"

"On Raw of course."

That's what she was afraid of. "Why not Smackdown?"

"Because Raw is where you debuted. You still have a rematch clause for another title match against Sasha and Bayley," he said. "And down the line Vince wants a Ronda vs Della feud because the comments Della made in her interview about Ronda have been circulating."

"Okay, we face Sasha and Bayley and lose again. Then what? Us vs the Riott Squad every week? The Ronda feud is down the line so I'm not worried about that now. On Smackdown we'll have Charlotte and Becky, Absolution, The Iconiics, The Bellas, Naomi and Asuka. The feuds and possibilities on the blue brand are endless," Marina proposed. "Plus, I didn't hear anything about Smackdown getting women's tag belts so Sasha and Bayley can easily come over there sometimes making it a cross brand title. Also, if you want her to feud with Ronda, it would be smart to keep them separated. The moment won't be special if they're constantly interacting on Raw every other week."

Triple H rubbed his chin. "You know, Marina, what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I'm going to run all of this by Vince and if he agrees, you two can be switched to the blue side."

"And H? Whether he agrees or not, can you not mention to Della that we had this conversation?"

H lifted a brow. "Trouble in paradise?"

"There's no trouble in paradise and this is going to make sure of it."

"I don't know what that's about but I'm sure you know what's best for you two as a team," he replied.

"I sure do," Marina smiled.

* * *

Della had a goodbye lunch with her family and she accompanied them to the airport to watch them leave. When she returned to her hotel room, Marina was already gone. She wondered what that was about but they both had lives of their own and if Della could come and go as she pleases, so could Marina.

When she arrived, she received instruction that they were going to be going on at the top of the second hour to interrupt Sasha and Bayley's coronation. Della noticed that Marina was being distant, maybe not distant but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. She didn't have much to say to Della until they discussed what they wanted to talk about in their promo.

"Jesus Christ, Marina, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing after tonight," Marina's lips twitched into a smirk but Della didn't get the meaning and didn't care to ask.

It was time for them to go out. Sasha and Bayley were already in the ring with their new titles as the crowd showered them with, "you deserve it" chants.

"That's right, The Boss and Hug Connection deserves it," Della said, interrupting. She and Marina walked from behind the curtain and stood at the top of the ramp. "We didn't get the title last night but I'm not sure I consider it a loss. On the night of our Raw debut, we said a couple things. Do you mind refreshing their memories, Marina?"

"Let's see," Marina started. "We said we were a charity pair and we said we loved helping the less fortunate and we proved that because without us, you two would've been hanging in catering last night while the girls we mentioned you being lost in the shuffle to, Alexa, Ronda and Charlotte were out there. We said we were tired of the soap opera bs and we saved you from it. We said they didn't have star power anymore and look at them now with the crowd on their feet. I don't consider it a loss, either."

"No, because we came and did exactly what we said we were going to do," Della stated. "Now as far as those tag titles on your shoulders, congrats, but keep them warm because we will be back…"

"...and better than ever," Marina finished.

Triple H met them in gorilla and she had a feeling that whatever he had to say was going to determine their fate. All she knew is that she didn't want to go back down to NXT. Marina grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"You two can go home for the week because I'm pulling you from Raw house shows. Starting Tuesday, you will be traveling with Smackdown. At the moment we don't have a storyline for you but you need to go to get acquainted with your new surroundings and get adjusted to your new schedule," H informed. Della couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she couldn't function. "Della, are you alright?"

"Yes!" Marina said, speaking for her.

" _Della_?" Triple H stressed and Della could only nod.

Della wasn't going to deny that her reaction was mostly due to being separated from Roman. Whether they carried on their affair or not, she'd miss seeing his face. She'd also gotten use to the the Friday-Monday schedule of Raw and would have to get adjusted to the Saturday-Tuesday schedule of Smackdown. She'd miss the women in the Raw locker room that she'd gotten to know and some of the men as well.

"Smackdown," Della said the word as if it tasted bad on her tongue as they walked around backstage.

"Come on, it won't be so bad. They do have a better women's division after all," Marina pointed out.

"Yeah, they do but still…" Della trailed off, shaking her head.

"Hey, Champ," Marina said and Della's head snapped up but it wasn't who she expected. It was Seth and his Intercontinental title. "I just wanted to say thanks for all the rides."

"Damn, they're sending you two back to NXT, aren't they?" he asked.

"Nope, we're crossing over to the land of opportunity, Smackdown," Marina replied and Della couldn't help but notice how happy she seemed about this.

"I'm going to miss your mean face," Seth lifted Marina by the waist and twirled her around.

"I'm going to miss your nasally voice," Marina said, she kissed him as she slowly slid down his body until her feet were back on the floor.

"I knew you liked me!"

"Who said I liked you?"

"You can't sleep in a bed next to this and not feel something. I know how emotions work."

"And that cocky attitude is why we shall go no further. Well, that and your girlfriend," Marina replied.

Watching their interaction made Della sad about saying goodbye to Roman because she knew it wouldn't be as cheery as theirs.

She usually wouldn't seek him out but it was necessary tonight. Della walked until she found him and his big red title in conversation with Dean Ambrose. They locked eyes and she jerked her head in the direction of an abandoned area. He nodded discreetly and she walked away. Finding what appeared to be a closet, she ducked off into it.

It took about five minutes but he eventually joined her. Della felt her eyes watering now that they were alone. She looked at his title. "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you. I know you'll carry it with pride and honor."

He brought the title off of his shoulder and handed it to her. It was kind of heavy. She ran her hands over it and traced the diamonds inside of the W. " It feels great to finally have it after all this time. What's up?"

"So you said we had a decision to make after Summerslam…" tears pricked her eyes to fall but she bit her lip, trying not to cry. "...it seems that the decision has been made for us. I'm heading to Smackdown."

"What?" he asked, standing there in shock. "But after the match, the merch and star power you're bringing, I thought for sure they'd keep you on the A show."

"I thought so too but who knows why WWE makes some of the decisions they do," Della shrugged. She looked up at Roman and he appeared to be sad and his body language conveyed the same disappointed that she felt. "How do you feel?"

"I'll miss you, that's for damn sure and I'll never forget the time we spent together. Those first few nights without you next to me are going to be rough," he sighed.

"Yeah, but you know what? This is probably for the best," Della acknowledged.

"I was thinking the same," he nodded. "I guess I'll see you around backstage at the joint pay per views."

He didn't try to fight for her or try to convince her that it could still work even on separate brands and she wouldn't do it either because they both knew that this was the end of the road. It really was better this way. There was no way she could remain on this brand because seeing him backstage at Raw, house shows and for two weeks straight on international tours, she'd long for him every time he looked at her with those warm chocolate brown eyes. Her heart would ache to see him, talk to him, lay under him and bask in the glow of his presence. Tears of sadness and loss filled her eyes. She couldn't help it and began openly weeping.

"Baby, don't do that," Roman said, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I don't want you to be sad or cry over me."

"I can't help it, Joe. I love you," her voice was muffled by his chest but she knew he heard it because his body stiffened.

"I know…I heard you when you said it that night," he revealed. "I really was asleep but those three words woke me up and kept me up for awhile."

Della took a step back to gauge his reaction. He didn't look upset or even weirded out by it. His expression was a sad smile. "I'm not expecting you to say it back or anything and don't think I'm going to turn psycho stalker bitch on you or anything. I just wanted you to know how I felt before we part ways."

He pulled at his hair. "It's not that I don't feel… because...I... fuck, Delesia. I'm just…"

"...married." Della said. "I know that's not what you were going to say but that's what it all boils down to and I knew that from the start and I decided to continue. I got myself into this mess, now I'm getting myself out and you too. Joe, you have a beautiful, sweetheart of a wife and let's not even talk about those kids. No woman, even someone as gorgeous and talented and badass and sexually gifted as myself is worth losing them over."

Roman closed his eyes and smiled. "And as for you, I know the other guys aren't me but you should give men like Elias a chance. But if it turns into love and you get engaged, that ass is mine before your wedding."

"Just because you decided to be trifling on the eve of your wedding doesn't mean I'm going to return the favor. Oh, who am I kidding," she gripped his face and pulled him down for what would be the last kiss they'd ever share. It wasn't sexy, it wasn't passionate, it wasn't intense. It was painstakingly slow and felt beyond any kiss they'd previously had. It was if they both wanted to convey how much they'd miss each other with their lips.

Della was breathless when they finally separated. "I guess this is it…"

When she looked down, they were holding hands and neither moved to pull away. He looked at her and she looked at him. It was as if they were in phoneless 'you hang up, no you hang up,' struggle. In the end, she was the one to hang up first as she pulled her hand from his and walked out of the closet without looking back.

Marina was waiting for her outside of the locker room. "Are you okay."

"No," she sniffled. "But I will be. Smackdown Live, here we come."

* * *

 **Breaking up is heard to do (and write).**


	10. New Beginnings

Della hadn't seen light since she arrived home Tuesday morning so when they flicked on Friday evening she squinted feeling blind as she shielded her eyes. She couldn't see anything but a shadow of a tall slim body. After a while she was able to make out blonde hair. _Sadie._

"I have an announcement. Tierra and I have decided to form a tag team. We will call ourselves...Ebony & Ivory and we'll only wear black and white gear to stay on theme," Sadie declared in a very serious tone.

"Bitch, what?" Della laughed, the first time she genuinely laughed since Monday.

"I knew that one would get you," Sadie laughed, sitting at the foot of the bed. "No offense but you look horrible and not horrible for your standards... _regular people_ horrible."

Della wasn't looking in a mirror at the moment but she knew it was true. Sleep didn't come easy even after she cried herself out. She had bags under her eyes and the last time she saw them they were bloodshot. Her hair was tangled and starting to get matted. The only time she got out of bed was to take a half-ass shower, immediately climbing back into bed afterwards. She barely left her room to eat and was basically surviving off the gallon jugs of water she kept in her room. If she stepped on a scale right now she'd probably lost 5 pounds.

"So who is he? _Was_ he, rather," Sadie asked.

"Who is who?" Della asked nervously.

"The guy you're turning yourself into a hermit over because Big Bad Della Stone who has always said ' _I don't care where I wrestle as long as I'm wrestling_ ' can't possibly be in a reclusive state over a brand switch. They're going to make you a star anywhere they send you. Fact!" Sadie replied. "I'm not naive about this business like I was a few months ago. I know what's up. Seriously, you can tell me. I'm one of you now and I know what happens backstage stays backstage."

"I know, Sadie. I trust you a helluva lot more than I trust a lot of people in this business and if he were anyone else, I swear I'd tell you but with him...I can't," Della shook her head. "I can't."

Sadie scoffed. "You're being secretive like it's a Roman Reigns but in reality it's probably more of a Curt Hawkins."

"I've only seen him in passing but Curt is actually pretty hot," Della chuckled.

"I'm glad I came in here. I wanted to come Tuesday night when you didn't come out of here all day but Marina said you needed time and space. It's Friday and I can't take it anymore. Now that you're in a better mood, I think it's time for you to blast some Adele and clean yourself up. If you debut Tuesday, you shouldn't want that Raw guy, whoever he is, to see you looking like a dreg of society," Sadie attempted to motivate her.

It did motivate her and she ran a bath just to sit and think of how ridiculous she became over a married man. Fuck Adele, she was going back to the sounds of Amy Winehouse's _Tears Dry on Their Own._

 _All I can ever be to you is a darkness that we knew and this regret I got accustomed to. Once it was so right when we were at our height waiting for you in the hotel at night. I knew I hadn't met my match but every moment we could snatch I don't know why I got so attached. It's my responsibility. You don't owe nothing to me but to walk away, I have no capacity. He walks away the sun goes down. He takes the day, but I'm grown. And in your way in this blue shade my tears dry on their own._

Della knew that it was going to hurt when it finally happened and now here she was not knowing how to cope with being without him. She was annoyed with herself knowing that it was her who opened herself up to all of this heart ache just so she could sneak around with him. Looking back, it was pathetic how much she lived for those moments but Roman meant so much she didn't care. The grin he wore most of the time when he was with her told at least how much he enjoyed their time together even if it was only friends with benefits. Those benefits made it well worth it though. That extra day they spent together meant everything to her because it felt like they were actually dating instead of fucking around in secret.

Nothing was ever going to change between them as far as relationship status because he definitely wasn't leaving Galina and Galina didn't knowingly have any reason to leave him. She knew that one day she would be doing just what she is now, hurting at love lost and trying hard to put it to the back of her mind. She tried to enjoy the moments they shared without thinking of the loneliness that was in store for her.

 _I don't understand. Why do I stress the man when there's so many bigger things at hand? We could've never had it all. We had to hit a wall so this is inevitable withdrawal. Even if I stop wanting you and perspective pushes through I'll be some next man's other woman soon. I cannot play myself again. I should just be my own best friend, not fuck myself in the head with stupid men. He walks away. The sun goes down. He takes the day, but I'm grown. And in your way in this blue shade my tears dry on their own._

Della felt like her insides were tearing in two, physical pain both at having to let Roman go and mental anger at herself for not doing it with dignity. " _I can't help it Joe. I love you"_ and breaking down into tears in front of him. Pathetic. She shouldn't have humiliated herself like that. When he hugged her that last time she wanted to keep him in her arms and never let him go but she knew that there was no way she could make him love her the way she loved him.

Tears started again, her body aching to be with him and her mind berating her for not taking that last opportunity to strip her clothes off and let him have her in that tiny closet. She could've never done it though, she wouldn't have let him see her that desperate as it probably would've left both of them broken. She was proud that she got it together at that last second and walked away with her head held high without looking back.

 _I wish I could sing no regrets and no emotional debt 'cause as we kissed goodbye, the sun sets. So we are history, your shadow covers me. The sky above ablaze only lovers see. He walks away. The sun goes down. He takes the day, but I am grown. And in your way in this blue shade my tears dry on their own._

Everyone makes mistakes but Roman wasn't one. He was more like a choice. With choices, sometimes you don't find out for weeks, months and sometimes years if it was the right or wrong one. Della knew all along that he was the wrong choice and yet if she could go back and make that choice again, she'd still choose him.

She wondered if most women would do the same if they had the opportunity. If they had the chance to be with the person of their dreams whether it be Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Dean Ambrose, Edge, Sheamus, Randy Orton, Cena, CM Punk, prime Shawn Michaels, single or taken, even for a short period of time...would they take it?

In the end, it didn't really matter. She couldn't go back a few months ago to undo it and she definitely couldn't go back 4 years. Therefore she had to live with the consequences.

Della had to deep condition her hair with two different products just to get it manageable and she used a deep cleansing mask for her face. Looking in the mirror, she appeared to be herself again. There was still darkness under her eyes but that was nothing a little concealer couldn't fix.

"Wow, look at you!" Marina said, appearing in Della's bathroom doorway. "I was starting to worry."

"You were?" Della asked flatly.

"Of course, you're my best friend and you mean everything to me. I saw how miserable you were these past few days and I've tried to be there for you but you wouldn't let me in," Marina replied. There was a reason for that. Marina did try to comfort her and maybe Della was paranoid but Marina's efforts didn't seem sincere. Marina kept trying to have a conversation about it but Della refused. Why? Just so Marina could have the opportunity to say ' _told you_ so? No thanks. "Your next stop needs to be the gym because you're losing muscle tone in your arms."

"I'm aware. I'm going to hit the weights hard all Saturday and Sunday. You down?" Della asked.

"Of course!" Marina nodded.

 **Sasha: I just made it to the house show and noticed you weren't at the arena. Someone said u were being sent to SD?! Whyyyyyy? Raw needs you & Marina more than they do. The SD women's roster is stacked! **

**Della: I have no idea. We don't even have a storyline yet meanwhile we would've been rolling on Raw.**

 **Sasha: Hell yea. We could've had 3-4 more weeks of build leading up to our rematch for the tags. The mandatory Riott Squad matches. You and Monica have unfinished busy with that shifty ending to ur MYC match. The Bellas are here now (ugh) I guess judging by their presence around the ring Monday so I'm sure u & Marina would've had a lot to say to them lol. Dana injured u so that could've been a throwaway squash feud. You vs Marina if they decided to turn one of u. And last but not least, Ronda. There was more than enough on Raw to keep u busy until Wrestlemania. Moving B&B was really eff'd up. **

**Della: Aww, fantasy booking me? It sounds as if The Boss liked having The Best around.**

 **Sasha: Uhh, no. The Boss just likes having great matches and feuds. Know the difference.**

 **Della: I'll miss u too, Sasha.**

 **Sasha: ;-(**

It was a little after 11 that night when she heard her Facetime tone. When she picked it up her mouth dropped at the three letters across her screen. _Joe_. Of course he was calling her, he was on the road alone and away from his family. The only time she could ever have with him was a bitter realization that hit her. She was going to ignore it but decided to answer.

Seeing his face across the screen for the first time since Monday made her heart ache. His expression was sympathetic and it made her sick that he pitied her.

"You look great," were the first words out of his mouth. He probably didn't mean it that way but Della felt like he expected her to be in shambles...and that's exactly how he would've caught her if he called a few hours earlier but he didn't need to know that. "I just wanted to check on you."

"I'm good," she answered, raising her head high. Della was holding up a lot stronger than she thought. She knew she'd eventually cross paths with him again at a joint PPV and was fully expecting to run away in tears. Even if she was torn up inside at least she gave the outward appearance of being fine.

"Are you sure?" Roman asked, those pure brown eyes filled with concern. He probably saw through her front. They'd spent way too much time together for him to just accept that 'I'm good' answer.

"Whether I'm sure or not, you're still married and we can't be together so what difference does it fucking make?" she snapped at him. He appeared stunned by her reaction. "If I said I'm not sure what exactly are you going to do about it? Absolutely nothing!"

"D, I'm going to give you some more time and try again another day. I know you're still hurt and you're lashing out at me as a defense mechanism. I know how you feel and I wish I could've offered you more and I wish things could've been different. I'm so sorry," he pleaded.

"You don't know shit and let's stop talking about wishes because we aren't children and you should know that since you have 3. If you've ever cared about me you would leave me alone so I can move on with my life! If you don't, not only would it be selfish to your wife but to me too. Goodbye, Joe," she yelled, hanging up on him.

She hated the hurt look on his face right before she pressed the red button but she did what she had to do. She needed to get over it and in order to do that she had to cut all ties with him. How could she move forward hearing his voice and seeing his face on her screen whenever he decided to 'check on' her? It would only remind her of what was and make the loss more painful. She found his contact in her phone and pressed, 'block this caller.' The past was the past and Della was determined to move on.

Her phone dinged right after she tossed it to the side and she wondered if Roman somehow bypassed the block.

 **Elias: There was a very nasty rumor circulating backstage tonight concerning your move to SD.**

 **Della: What?**

 **Elias: We ALL heard...that u told management that u found me so irresistible that u couldn't possibly remind on the same brand as me.**

 **Della: Nasty rumor u say? With ur track record I'm sure you didn't deny it.**

 **Elias: Err, I thought we moved passed that?**

 **Della: We did.**

 **Elias: Good, look forward to me annoying you twice as hard to make up for lost time at every joint PPVs.**

 **Della: Lol, I already blocked one person tonight, don't be the second.**

* * *

"This legit feels like the first day at a new school," Marina said Tuesday as they stepped inside of the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada.

"Nah, school is way more livelier than this. This just feels sad, dead and dry," Della remarked.

"Yeah, and most of the men really worth looking at are on Raw," Marina commented.

"I'm not coming here looking for a man," Della replied. "I wasn't looking for a man on Raw either...it just happened. On topic, there are some nice looking guys here but most of them are married or taken."

"Which means you should feel right at home," Marina snorted.

"Oh fuck you," Della laughed.

"Road Dogg...Road Dogg..where can we find Road Dogg," Marina wondered aloud about the whereabouts of producer and lead writer of Smackdown Live.

"Let's ask them," Della said motioning toward the New Day. "Hey!"

Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Big E turned around to face them. Kofi was married but he struck her as faithful so he kept his eyes locked on their faces, Xavier was married as well but that didn't seem to matter the way he eyed them up. Big E just had a goofy smile and that's who spoke first. "Are you two here or are you hopping from brand to brand feuding?"

"Team B&B is here to stay," Della replied.

"Good, we need some new faces on UpUpDownDown," Xavier said.

"Oh, cool. I watch it sometimes and we'd love to be apart of it," Della smiled.

"Speak for yourself. You think he's talking about the show UpUpDownDown but after what everyone saw on the tapes, he may be referring to something else," Marina mumbled under her breath for only Della to here.

"By any chance would any of you three know where Road Dogg is located?" Della asked.

"What time is it?" Kofi looked down at his watch. "It's about an hour to show time so he's probably in gorilla talking to the producers and crew."

"Alright, thanks," Della nodded as she walked away.

Road Dogg looked up as they approached. "How was your trip?"

"It was fine. H told us to report to you when we arrived so here we are," Marina said.

"Don't take this the wrong way, girls, but I honestly don't understand why you're here," he replied. "I have no idea what to do with you two at the moment. We've already have our women's division plans laid out and booked up until Evolution and then we'll start fresh. Plus, you two are heels and we've already made plans to have Becky as our top heel for the time being."

"So you mean to tell me that we're going to have to sit out until after Evolution...in October?" Della blinked slowly, trying to make sense of this.

"If you actually want a meaningful storyline and feud, yes but if you want to go out there and have throwaway matches, you can bring your gear next week," he said.

"Fuck!" Marina cursed aloud when they left gorilla. She looked distressed as she ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "This is all my fault."

"How? It's not like you asked to come here," Della shrugged. "We knew even before signing that creative isn't that...creative. At least now they'll have the time to actually write us something worthwhile."

"You're taking this well," Marina seemed shocked at Della's lack of reaction.

"I'm taking it well because I need to get my head back in the game before I step into the ring again. Anyway, you did that boasting about Smackdown having a better division but they aren't exactly utilizing the women. Absolution is just here, Asuka hasn't been seen in weeks. Naomi just made an appearance last week and lost. I saw the writing on the wall and knew we weren't going to just show up and be given a spot," Della said.

"Damn, I really didn't think about any of that when I…" Marina trailed off.

"When you what?" Della's head turned.

"...celebrated our move," Marina finished.

"Yeah, you were only thinking about me being separated from Joe," Della laughed.

"Joe, huh?" one of the Usos asked from behind. She knew their names were Jimmy and Jey or _Josh and Jon_ but couldn't tell them apart. She knew one as 'Naomi's husband' and the other one was 'the other one.' They didn't look mad but they didn't look very welcoming so Della decided to clear the air.

She sighed. "Look, I know you guys probably think of me as just some chick that kept your cousin's bed warm at night and that's true but believe it or not, we actually meant a lot to each other. We're over now and I want you to know that I'm not some vindictive bitch and I'd never do anything to hurt him or his career. Okay?"

The twins looked at each other dumbfounded and speechless and Della knew she fucked up.

"Over… _now_?" one asked. " _Meant a lot to each other_?"

"So you two were still…?" the other asked. Della could see the disappointment on their faces with Roman. Apparently he didn't catch them up to speed.

"You bet your ass they were still…!" Marina taunted. "Your cousin was knocking that down every single night they were on the road together and he loved every second of it, career, reputation and family be damned."

"Marina!" Della snatched her away. "There you go getting out of your place again. It probably was hard enough hearing that he was still seeing me. You could've spared them the details."

"Okay, got it. Bitch, you're pulling us right in the direction of Orton!" Marina whispered. "We'll have to shake his hand!"

"Oh shit," Della recalled him being under investigation for inappropriate conduct as the result of a story a writer told about Randy touching his dick before shaking hands. He was on the other side of the hall but his head was beginning to turn in their direction and Della made a u-turn. They giggled as they turned the corner. "I think he saw us."

"We can't avoid him forever but we damn sure can try," Marina smirked. "I'm surprised you don't want to shake it since that was your childhood crush."

"Like I told Joe the other day, we aren't children anymore. And I'm sure Orton would want to shake your hand first since he stared at you backstage at Mania," Della teased. When she looked up she saw Zelina and Andrade coming down the hall. "Oh look, here comes one of your old trainers."

"I tried hard to avoid him when we arrived at NXT and then he was called up after Mania but now, I have to do what I have to do," Marina stated, clearing her throat. She said something to him in Spanish that Della didn't understand. It seemed Andrade was trying to reason with her and she continued until she was practically yelling. Finally, he raised his voice.

Zelina joined Della on the sidelines watching the show. "Hi."

"Hey. I don't speak or understand Spanish but even I can tell that that does not sound friendly," Della commented.

"Trust me, it's not," Zelina chuckled.

"Is he your…?"

"No," Zelina quickly denied. "Strictly business. Your girl on the other hand..."

"Oh, wow," Della snorted, shaking her head. Marina was always worried about her and Roman but at least they never had a public lover's spat. "Hey, where's the women's locker room?"

"I just left there. It's around the corner, first door to the left," Zelina directed.

"Excuse us, señor," Della said, pulling Marina away from Andrade. "What was _that_?"

"Nothing," Marina grunted. "Where are we going?"

"Here," Della replied, stopping in front of a door that said: Smackdown Female Talent.

Della knocked, taking a deep breath before entering. She'd gotten along well with the women of Raw so she hoped this would be no different. All of the women were separated, doing their own thing whether it be changing into gear, stretching or on their phones. She and Marina received the inevitable stares from her new locker roommates: Asuka, Becky, Billie Kay, Carmella, Charlotte, Lana, Mandy, Naomi, Peyton, Sonya, Paige and Tamina. They sized her up and she sized them up in return. Unlike Raw with 3 hours, Smackdown only had 2 so that meant whenever B&B _did_ receive a storyline, it was going to take airtime and two spots away from them.

They didn't say anything so Della took upon herself to speak first. She cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm pretty sure I've already met most of you in passing either backstage at Wrestlemania or last Sunday at Summerslam but just in case, I'm Della, that's Marina. This move to Smackdown was a surprise to say the least but I'm happy to be here and I'm ready to make the best of it."

"You're ready to make the best of it, huh? Girl, if y'all don't sit y'all asses down somewhere," Naomi stared blankly at Della and she froze. What if her husband told her the going ons between her and Roman. Galina was Naomi's in-law which meant her loyalty was to her. What if Naomi blasted her right here in front of everyone. Naomi's lips turned up into a smirk. "I mean that literally. Sit down. We already got the tea on you two from our sisters of Raw so we know you're cool. I'm Trin."

After they sat down, everyone resumed their activity. Looking around, Della felt like this move was going to be alright after all.


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning: The following chapter may be "sloppy" and half-assed. Here's why: I finished Chapter 11 a week ago but unfortunately, the file was lost. I was really bummed out about it but thankfully, my outline was saved separately so I did the best I could to remember the original on this new version. ;-(**

 **Also, work related issues are going to keep me out until early October so I wrote up to that point. After that I'll be able to update more consistently.**

* * *

 **Marina: How's he doing?**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: Better but still not 100%. He's always tired now & I don't think he's getting much sleep on the road. What about D? **

**Marina: Pretty much the same. She was really depressed at first but now she's normal, irritable but normal. I think she's taking it harder than she admits but of course I've always been Anti-Roman so she's not going to tell me.**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: You kno she's going to legit kick your ass when she finds out.**

 **Marina: Eh, the only way she finds out is if the 3 ppl who know (me, u or H) spill. Hopefully, if/when she finds out she'll be over it and realize it was for the best.**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: So are we going to address the elephant in the room?**

 **Marina: I don't know what you're talking about….**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: *kiss emoji***

 **Marina: Don't make me screenshot this msg and DM it to Sarah because u know I don't mind breaking shit up. ;-)**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: Going to update your contact name from mean face to evil face.**

 **Marina: Lol, u don't wanna see what I have u saved under.**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: How's SD treating you?**

 **Marina: I'll let u know when I find out.**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: So was doing what u did worth sacrificing your career as well as hers.**

 **Marina: Hmm, a D. Stone push vs a D. Stone public scandal. If shit hit the fan like it would have eventually, I'd go down by association since they're still coming up with new merch pieces for us as a TEAM...**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: Can't argue that. Not to mention the Shield reunion would be cut short...again because they'd no doubt make him sit at home until everything dies down.**

 **Marina: See…there's method in the madness.**

* * *

It all started with Lana asking, ' _wanna go shopping_?' Now Della and Marina awkwardly shifted through clothing racks with Total Divas cameras pointed in their face along with Naomi and Paige.

"We have to get you two boyfriends so you can loosen up," Paige commented, picking up a black swimsuit.

"I don't know about Marina but I'm good," Della relied. She kept glancing into the camera like she was on The Office.

"Me too," Marina didn't even look up as she snatched a few clothing articles down. "Hey Della, I want to try this on. Let's go over to the dressing room wayyyy over there."

"Sure, let's go... _alone_ ," Della emphasized, speed walking behind Marina. " _I think we should go with them,_ you said. _It'll be good to get acquainted with them outside of the locker room,_ you said. _The more you get out and do things the less you'll think about him,_ you said!"

"Bitch, you already knew Smackdown was where most of the Total Divas cast was located. There was always a risk. We could've simply been sitting in catering minding our own business and got caught on camera," Marina muttered. She looked at the dresses she held. "I don't want any of this ugly, overpriced shit but I will try it on for the sake of killing time. Hopefully by the time we get back out there they'll have enough footage for this scene."

"K, I'll be out here," Della walked to stand in front of the mirrors. Her eyes widened when she saw Trin walking up behind her. Turning around, she greeted her. "Hey?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Trin said.

"If it's about joining Total Divas, as you can tell by me hiding in here, I'm not cut out for it," Della quickly spoke. "Plus I don't have a wrestler boyfriend and I don't want one therefore my storyline would be boring."

"Girl, this is not about Total Divas. It's about me and you," she strongly declared and Della's heart began beating rapidly with nervousness. "Do you not like me or something?"

Della was baffled. That definitely wasn't what she was expecting Trinity to say. "No, I mean yes, I mean what? Where did you get an idea like that from?"

"I don't know," Trin sighed. "You're polite and friendly but you've been here a little while now and we just haven't really clicked. When we're in a group setting like today you're fine but it seems you go out of your way to avoid me. You don't talk to me one on one at all besides speaking. I'm thinking is she elitist because of her wrestling background? Is she racist? Does she like the women of Raw better? What? This was _my_ shopping trip but I had Lana invite you guys because I wasn't sure if you'd come if I asked."

Della hated putting herself in this position and she hated that it made Trinity feel this way. She knew from the start that she couldn't get too close to her. It would only end badly if the truth ever came to light or if Della said too much one day. Trinity would be upset that Della had an affair with her cousin in law and would turn on her out of loyalty to Galina. She also knew that Jon wouldn't go for it knowing what he knew. "Well, I'm not elitist... _anymore_ and I'm definitely not racist as a mixed person myself. Trin, you are probably the sweetest person in the Smackdown locker room so I have absolutely no reason to dislike you. I've had a lot on my mind lately. I also don't have a storyline so I'm a bit frustrated. Whatever you felt coming from me wasn't intentional. Actually, I don't think I've formed many one on one bonds with anyone here yet but thanks for opening my eyes to the way I've come across. Starting today, I'm going to do better and try to be more sociable."

"Okay, try because this is your new home now," Trinity patted her on the back before turning to walk away. "We're done filming and will be moving on to lunch whenever you two finish up in here."

"Okay, cool," Della nodded.

Marina swung her dressing room door open. "Wow, he's out of the picture and still causing you trouble."

Marina had no idea how upset Della had been over the split. The tears had stopped, although when she thought about him for too long she could feel them pricking at her eyes. She woke most mornings after dreaming about him to a tiny moment of peace before she remembered it was all over.

The next scene took them to lunch where Lana ranted about scripted drama between her and Rusev. The camera men were still in their faces which made it uncomfortable to eat. They had to reshoot the scene several times because they were at an outside cafe and loud cars would pass and horns would blow making it difficult to hear their dialogue.

Della felt familiar stomach cramps and excused herself. She'd never been so happy to see her period. She was practically jumping for joy as she put change into the tampon dispenser. No illegitimate baby Anoa'i meant she had no ties to Roman. There was always that fear in the back of her mind and now she could finally let it and him go.

She was still smiling when she sat back down at the table. "So what were we talking about again?"

"You seem to be in a better mood?" Trinity mentioned.

"Happy poo?" Paige raised a brow.

"Eww!" Della stuck her tongue out in disgust.

* * *

 **Sasha: You've barely been over there two seconds and you've already been spotted out with the TD cameras.**

 **Della: The producers will probably end up cutting us out anyway because Marina and I were very uncooperative, lol. What's up, tho?**

 **Sasha: So I heard through the grapevine (HHH) that we're going to have a rematch at either the show in Australia or Evolution…**

"Well, at least we have something to look forward to," Della said, showing Marina the text . "I feel motivated tonight. What about you?"

Marina and Della dressed in their ring gear approached Road Dogg in gorilla. "We're ready for that meaningless match."

"Alright, I think I can fit you two in at the top of the second hour," he replied.

Their theme hit and the pop they received told them that they still had the crowd's interest even after being missing for weeks. Della grabbed a mic and went to work. "That's right, the Bold and Bitchy are now Team Blue. Together we are the two best wrestlers stepping through those ropes today and we _own_ any ring we step into. We're not here to participate, we're here to dominate."

Marina continued. "We don't care who it is, The Queen of what exactly Charlotte, the red headed "woe is me" step-child Becky Lynch, the moonwalker who has MJ rolling in his grave Carmella, feel the flop, Naomi, does anyone even remember that long period of time when Asuka had the most dominant streak in WWE history? If you do, do you care? I don't. The rest are irrelevant and even still, they can get it too."

They were interrupted by the theme song of the IIconics. Peyton already had a mic in her hand. "I think you forgot someone."

"No we didn't. You were included in the irrelevant," Della replied.

"Ohhh, the big bad super-wrestlers are looking down on us. _I'm Della Stone and I've wrestled here, there, everywhere. I won this title in Transylvania that no one has heard of or cares about. Now I'm on Smackdown because I couldn't get the job done on Raw_ ," Billie mocked, doing here best Della impression. "I'll have you know that we have an extensive resume as well. I've been wrestling for 11 long years…"

"Wow, eleven years?" Marina whistled. "Did you hear that D? 11 _long_ years."

"I heard," Della nodded. "Billie, honestly, I think you should've kept that to yourself because those 11 years of experience don't show when you step between these ropes. You would've done better saying you've had 11 years of public speaking courses because running your mouth is the only thing you're good at...and even that's cringe."

"So let's see, we talk better than you, we wrestle better than you and we look -" Marina started but was interrupted by Della.

"Marina, no!" she yelled. "We can't mention their looks even though they constantly flaunt and mention their looks because Peyton may have another Twitter breakdown."

That comment resulted in a round of ooohs from the crowd and Paige's theme followed. "Those sound like fighting words. Don't you agree, Detroit?" Paige asked the audience and they agreed, some responding with 'yes' chants. "Everybody's in gear so how about the Bold and the Bitchy's Smackdown debut match start right now."

The match was decent and allowed them to pick up their first Smackdown win.

"Feel the flop though, Marina?" Trinity laughed when they made it back to the locker room.

Della decided to put in effort. "Trin, you know you can get back at us for that comment next week. You and Asuka vs Us. I'm sure the match will be…"

"Straight fire," Becky finished in passing.

"I was going to say lit but that works, too."

"Yeah," Naomi agreed. "We need to run this by Road Dogg because I'd love to face off against you two."

"Hey baby," Jon came out of nowhere, securing an arm around Trin's shoulder. He gave Della a cautious look which told her that he didn't want Trin knowing about the affair.

"Have you met Della?" Trin introduced.

"Nah, what's up," Jon spoke in a nonchalant manner that made Naomi side eye him.

"Della, this is my apparently grouchy husband, Jon…"

"Hi, nice to meet you," Della forced herself to sound cheery in order to counter his reaction to her. Naomi already gave him the side eye, Della knew if she came back with a dry greeting it would set off red flags.

"You ready to get out of here, Trin?" he asked. "It was nice meeting you...Marina?"

"Della," she corrected through her smile clenched teeth. ' _I bet your cousin knows my name'_ was on the tip of her tongue but Trin's presence saved him.

* * *

Marina watched as Della and Sadie chain wrestled Wednesday at the Performance Center.

"You've been putting in work Sadie," Marina acknowledged.

"I had to. You two bitches aren't going to leave me down here to rot," Sadie huffed, out of breath.

"Okay, Della get out and let's see her go against Tierra so we know it's real," she replied.

Sadie and Tierra started off with crisp chain wrestling, it was established that Tierra was the stronger of the two early on. Tierra deadlifted Sadie, dropping her to the canvas. When Sadie stood, Tierra attempted a hurricanrana but Sadie countered it with a powerbomb.

"Yes!" Della cheered from the outside. She wiped a fake tear. "They grow up so fast. I remember when they were tripping on their own feet just simply getting in the ring."

"Where is the rest of our class anyway?" Marina asked.

"Cassie got knocked up and Tonya tore her ACL. When she does heal, I don't think she's coming back," Tierra answered.

Della winced. "ACL and neck are the only injuries I've managed to avoid all these years."

"You still have time," Sadie smiled.

"Bitch…"

"Della and Marina!" They turned around and saw Triple H standing on the other side of the room.

"Someone's in trouble…" Tierra mumbled.

"What's with you two wishing bad luck on us today?" Della snorted.

"They want our spots, duh," Marina replied. "Have you never seen Showgirls? Never let Sadie walk behind you going down a flight of stairs."

"What do you think he wants though?" Della asked as they walked toward his office.

"Probably to tell us what Sasha already told us," Marina shrugged.

"Knock knock," Della said, opening his door.

"Sit down, girls," he motioned toward the chairs in front of his desk.

"First things first, your rematch for the tag titles will take place at the Super Showdown in Australia," he informed.

"Really? Oh wow!" Della tried to act surprised.

"Cut it out. I know Banks can't hold a secret," he chuckled. "The second order of business is the Mixed Match Challenge."

"That's coming back?" Marina raised a brow.

"It's coming back," H confirmed. "We put out feelers and polls weeks ago and Della, the fans really wanted you with Reigns thanks to that appearance you two made together."

' _Oh God'_ Marina thought to herself. She was convinced that Della was finally getting over it. Pairing them together would only reignite the flame. She glanced over at Della and her face was flushed.

"We asked him and he agreed to partner with you," H continued and Marina sunk in her chair. "That was until he found out it only films on Tuesdays after Smackdown. He backed out because it would take a day away from his family."

"Aww, that Roman is such a great husband and father," Marina smiled. How dare the bastard be a considerate, family oriented cheater.

"Oh, who will I have?" Della asked.

"Elias," he replied and Marina heard Della grumble under her breath.

"And me?"

"Seth Rollins."

Now it was Marina's turn to grumble. "Of all people..."

"Marina, can I speak with you, alone?" H requested.

Della looked at her in question and Marina simply shrugged. "I'll be out at the practice ring."

When the door snapped shut, Marina turned around to face H. "Sooo?"

"Vince is dissatisfied with you two on Smackdown and frankly, so am I," he said. "Was there a specific reason why _you_ wanted to go to Smackdown because Della clearly wasn't in on it."

"No," Marina shook her head.

"Marina, come on," he pressed. "Was something or someone bothering you on Raw? Where you dating someone and wanted to get away?"

"Not me," she rolled her eyes.

"So it's Della," he sat up straighter now that they were getting somewhere. "Not getting along with someone or dating someone?"

No matter how pissed she was over Della and Roman, she wouldn't sell her out to the higher ups. It would be counterproductive to want to keep something under wraps only to spill it herself but she had to say something now that she was backed into a corner. "You know her and Monica never got along that well, right?"

"That's all you had to say in the beginning. It would've been Monica going to Smackdown and that's exactly where she's going after Australia because you two will be coming back to Raw!"

 _Shit_.

 **Marina: -_- you haven't given shotgun away have you?**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: *eyes emoji***

 **Marina: We'll be back after the Australia show.**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: Welp, it was a nice plot while it lasted. Are you worried?**

 **Marina: Somewhat but I think it'll be okay. I broke into her phone the other day to see if they were still communicating and nothing. Then, I saw that she had him blocked. Nothing screams over like a block.**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: We shall see…**

 **Marina: Oh and also, we're going to be partners in the MMC.**

 **Lying Cheating Porn Star: I know. ;-)**

* * *

"What's wrong with you?" Marina asked Della on their drive to Smackdown.

"Nothing," Della sniffed, wiping wetness from her eyes.

"Please don't tell me it's over the Roman selfie?"

"Okay, I won't tell you," Della replied thinking about the shirtless picture of Roman circulating on Twitter. It made her wonder…what if he wasn't the sensitive teddy bear he portrayed. What if he was really running through the women's locker room. What if she was just a number. What if she wasn't the last one? Every girl in the Raw locker room and rats in every city probably thought that title belonged to them. What if he bragged about her to the men's locker room. What if that was the reason Elias has been after her so hard.

Marina sighed. "As much as I'd like to laugh in your face right now. Apparently that's a progress pic sent to a trainer that used to work for WWE. Other wrestlers were leaked by the same guy as well. Come on, think about if he sent you a 'nude' would he look that pitiful wearing that thick wedding ring? If so you should've sent it right back."

"I guess you're right," Della replied.

"The way the girls on Twitter are carrying on you'd swear he was dick out naked with the entire women's locker room _and_ Darren Young on their knees around him. Fuck, I miss Rollins. I'm going to turn here and it's your turn to take the wheel," Marina hit the signal and turned into a gas station.

Della grabbed her bags out of the trunk when they arrived at the arena for Smackdown. "I'm so tired."

"Yeah, we have been traveling a lot," Marina replied.

"Mentally…" Della clarified.

"Oh no, please don't tell me you're losing your passion for wrestling over dick. AJ Lee 2.0 but at least Punk was her husband."

"No it's not over dick and AJ had a spinal injury."

"Sure… you've been doing this shit for 12 years. The _Joe_ saga happens and all of a sudden you're _tired_?

"Exactly, Marina I've been doing this shit for 12 years! I think I've paid my dues and earned this fatigue," Della argured. "Sure, I had and lost probably the best man I'll ever had here but that's only a small percentage of things. We go home for a few days a week and it literally feels like we just go home to change clothes, pack and come right back. I sleep all day and still can't get any rest. They can guarantee me a spot in the Main Event of next years Mania and I still wouldn't be excited."

"The best man you'll ever have is a married man with three kids? Yikes, your future is bleak," Marina shivered.

The first two wrestlers they ran into were the Usos. Della wanted to avoid them but Marina stopped to shake their hand. Della did the same, Josh shook her hand but the second kept his hand in his pockets.

"Really?" Della scoffed. "Go ahead, Marina. I'll catch up."

"I'm going to assume you're Jon, the one who belongs to Trinity?" Della asked.

"That's me, what's up?"

"I had an affair with your cousin but he's a grown ass 33 year old man and everything we did was consensual and by choice. I can guarantee you aren't shunning him. Keep that same energy when you run into me. There's upset and then there's rude as fuck," she scolded. "If you continue the way you're doing Trin is going to continue to side eye you for the aggressive way you act toward me. She's going to eventually conclude that's something's wrong. Her first thought is going to be that we have something going on which I would _never_ because you aren't nearly as fine as Joe. Then you'll have to tell."

"You're right, not about that fine bullshit because I know I look good but the other stuff. I apologize and let's just agree to be cordial," he said extending his hand and she shook it. "He's asked about you."

"Really? What did he say?" she hated how anxious she sounded.

"He just wanted to know how you were doing over here."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That it's not my job to keep up with you and not to ask me shit else about you. See, equality. I'm not letting him off easy about this situation either," he said. "Word of advice, whatever lingering feelings you have for my cousin need to end. Just know that if you two somehow get back together he's not leaving G and if he does, you'll be responsible for breaking up a marriage and destroying the lives of three children. Worse case scenario result from the affair will be a child that he won't love as much as Jojo and the boys because it'll be a living, breathing reminder of his fuck up. Oh, and our family will never accept you because of the way you two got together."

"I hope you don't think you're telling me something because if so, you just wasted your breath. Sis, I already knew all of that," she replied. "Your cousin and I are through and I mean it this time. If we weren't, the thought of having you as an in law has completely turned me off."

"Mission accomplished," he smirked. "Also, I can't stop you from being cool with Trin but watch what you say. Unlike Joe, I don't make it a habit to keep secrets from my wife."

Della found Marina peeking around a corner. "What are we doing?"

"Hiding from the cameras. Look," Marina whispered and Della looked around the corner to see Maryse, Brie, Naomi, Lana and Paige filming a scene for Total Divas.

"What y'all looking at?" a male voice asked.

It was Randy Orton. He was still kind of handsome in his old age. As he reached out his hand, Della heard the Jaws theme playing in her head. He went to Marina first and then came to Della. The handshake was uncomfortably long and Della knew he was aware of what they were thinking and why they were avoiding him evidenced by his signature smirk.

"Nice meeting you," Della waved behind him, wiping the hand that he shook on her jeans.

Marina brought her hand up to her nose and sniffed. "Smells like lotion."

"...that he used to ease things along," Della jokingly concluded.

"Bitch!" Marina gagged. "Where's the bathroom so I can wash my hands?!"

Later own, they stood in the ring watching Naomi's entrance. Della cleared her throat when the lights came back on. "Now that we've endured that without going into an epileptic seizure, what do you want?"

"I know!" Marina blurted. "Something, something, _snatch you bald_ , something something, _glow_ , something something, something else."

"Yeah, I think that just about covers the typical Naomi promo," Della nodded.

"How about I give you the typical Naomi beat down in the ring right now!" Trin yelled into the mic. "Asuka, where you at?"

The Bold and Bitchy went on to claim their second Smackdown win.

* * *

The night she'd been dreading was upon her. Hell in a Cell where she'd no doubt run into _him_. She jumped every time she felt a presence beside her and looked before walking around every corner.

"Can you sing?" Elias asked.

"I can hold a tune I guess," she shrugged.

"Good, you can be my background singer for the challenge. You know it's nothing but a big popularity contest anyway to give fans new ships and fanfiction material," he replied.

"I bet you'll love reading some poorly written stories about us, huh?"

"Read? I may right one anonymously myself," he said and she laughed. " _Della gazed upon Elias's strong, muscular arms and shoulders as she wondered how big his manhood was. The thought made her sex quiver with need._ You're a virgin in it and somehow me, the guy, ends up pregnant after the condom breaks."

"What's your pen name because you've done this before," Della smiled and it quickly faded when she connected with brown eyes across the room. "I'll see you later, okay? I go out next."

She and Roman stared at each other, neither moving toward the other. She wasn't a mess but the sight of him still did things to her emotionally. Turning around, she walked in the opposite direction. She wasn't ready to shake his hand or hear his voice. The sound of his voice would bring her back to him whispering in her ear as they writhed naked on the bed together.

She found Marina huddled up with Seth in an isolated area. "Did I miss the kiss this time?"

"There wasn't a kiss this time and there won't be one next time, either," Marina replied. "When is our segment?"

"Next," Della said.

Della and Marina walked out on the ramp. They looked around. "We came all the way to San Antonio looking for Sasha and Bayley and they're nowhere to be found."

"I think they're in catering," Marina said.

"Wow, it's barely been a month and the Women's Tag Titles are already as irrelevant as the holders. Evolution is right around the corner, a turning point for the women in this company yet two women who are often credited for the Women's Revolution are too weak to stand up and demand that they get defended just like both men's tag titles did tonight?" Della argued. "The _little_ respect I gained Sasha and Bayley after our battle at Summerslam is gone. We can not stand back and watch them do a disservice to the titles we almost killed ourselves trying to win."

"Don't waste any crumbs on _our_ titles while you're back there because on October 6 at the Super Showdown in Melbourne, Australia we're coming," Marina finished, dropping the mic.

* * *

"We can show you all the hot spots," Australia's very own Billie and Peyton boasted as they stepped off the plane.

"Okay but first show us to the hotel because that flight was no joke," Della stood on wobbly legs.

"I'm sorry, my family would have to come visit me every holiday because there is no way in hell I would sit on a flight that long Orlando to Australia voluntarily," Marina groaned.

As soon as Della checked into her room, she crawled into bed and slept the entire evening and night away. She'd occasionally turn over and would see the giant wheel thing lit up outside of her window.

The next morning, she was emailed an itinerary. They were broken down into groups for photo-op tours and press runs. She scrolled until she found her name. Group 2: Elias, Della Stone, Marina Diaz, Seth Rollins, Dana Brooke, Titus, Dean, Renee, Ember...Roman.

"Great," Della sarcastically remarked.

Elias kept his arm around Della's shoulder from the moment they met in the hotel lobby up until now as they rode on a tour bus and listened to the guide.

"Are we at least going to go see kangaroos or something?" Dean was obviously restless after an hour of listening to rambling.

"Unfortunately, that's out of Group 2's jurisdiction. Group 3 is visiting the Melbourne Zoo," the tour guide explained.

"What about the train?" he asked.

"Group 1 is riding Puffing Billy."

"The Ferris Wheel?"

"The Melbourne Star Observation Wheel is Group 4."

"Aww, I wanted to see it after it disturbed my sleep several times last night," Della pouted. "What do we get?"

"Sealife Aquarium."

"That'll work," Dean replied. "Anything that'll get us out of this bus."

"After the tour is over we can go find the kangaroos ourselves," Renee assured him.

Della saw Elias holding his phone in her face and he brought himself in the shot for a selfie. "Elias! You know we don't have to keep selling ourselves as a team, right?"

"What if I want to be more than a team?" he replied which prompted awws out of Dana, Renee and Ember.

"Don't encourage him," Della muttered.

Elias scrolled through the comments of their latest photo. "We look good together I can tell you that much. We're even converting the hardcore Delman fans."

Hearing Delman made her look up to check on Roman. He was wearing dark sunglasses and his head was turned in the other direction but she could tell he was listening because of how tense his jaw was.

Della had never been to an aquarium before so she was excited and found the experience of watching fish swimming very calming. She found herself separating from the group so she could explore independently. She was aware of a presence behind her as she watched a shark swim over her head.

"How did I know you were going to follow me?" Della turned around expecting to see Elias but it was Roman. She looked around to make sure no one was there to witness. "What are you doing?"

"I miss you and still, after all these weeks I can't sleep at night when I'm on the road because I want you next to me. All I do is think about you and wonder what you're doing. It's starting to spill over into my home life."

"Roman, stop!" she shook her head.

"It's just us. Call me Joe the way you use to," he placed his strong hand on her forearm. The feel of his touch sent electricity through her body. This couldn't happen. She couldn't be pulled into his vortex again.

"No, _Roman_ , I don't think that's a good idea," Della snatched her arm away and was immediately flooded with a sense of relief, but also a pinch of regret.

He pulled out his wallet and tried to slide her his room key. "We don't have to do anything. I don't even have to touch you. All you have to do is come see me. We can just be friends."

"Roman, Joe, even _Leati_ , the answer is NO! Married men shouldn't have female friends that his wife isn't aware of. Married men especially shouldn't invite female friends to their rooms in the wee hours of the morning!"

"Why don't you ever text me back?"

"Because I blocked you and I don't receive them," she confessed.

"You blocked me?" his eyes widened. "When?"

"Immediately after our FaceTime that night. I had to because I'd never be able to move on and shake you if we were still in contact," she replied.

"So if you blocked me right after you hung up in my face, that means you didn't get the text I sent you that night."

"What did it say?"

Roman's face hardened but there was a sad look in his eyes. "Don't worry about it."

"Roman, what did it-"

"It doesn't matter now that you've _moved on_ , does it?" he snapped, turning to walk away from her.

Della was tempted to follow but he was right, whatever it said didn't matter now. She hated that she had to treat him this way but it was for the best. Trying to push it out of her mind, she turned back to the colorful fish in front of her. She heard footsteps stop behind her. She sighed. "What now?"

"Damn!" Elias chuckled.

Della whipped around. "Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"Someone like who?" Elias looked around but there was no one in the area.

"Nevermind. What's up?" Della replied, trying to change the subject.

"I know, you've been waiting to go out with me for months, you and every other woman in this company so I've finally decided to let you take me out tonight," he proclaimed.

"If you don't get your ass out of character," Della laughed.

"I got a laugh instead of the slap I was expecting, is that a yes?" he asked, hopeful.

"Knock on my hotel door at about 7:30. If I come out, it's a yes. If I don't, it's a no," she answered.

* * *

Elias offered his elbow to Della outside the hotel and she embarrassingly took it. "You look beautiful."

"What's your name anyway, your real name? It feels awk going on a date with someone and still calling them by their ring name," she said.

"Oh, so you consider this a date," he seemed surprised.

"You don't?" she raised a brow. "Why are you wearing slacks a button down, then?"

"I did but I know how you are so I didn't say anything. My name is Jeffrey, what's yours?"

"Delesia, but I don't want you to call me that," she was conditioned to think of Roman when she heard her full name.

"How about….Stoney?"

"I'll allow it," Della spotted a group of fans with their phones out and aimed toward them. She pulled back from him.

"What?" he stopped, turning around to see what she was doing.

"Those fans have cameras!"

"And?"

"Oh, right," Della blinked. She was with Elias, not Roman. Elias wasn't married and she could actually be seen with him. She didn't feel like an undercover agent on a secret mission for the first time in months. She reached down and grabbed his hand. "Where are we going?"

At the restaurant, Della tried a meat pie and seafood pizza. She was stuffed an hour later.

"Before we leave, I want to try the witchetty grub," Elias said, browsing the menu.

"What's that?"

" Larvae…"

"Larvae as in bugs?"

"Yes," he answered casually. "They tell me it's good."

"Jeffrey, assuming we make it past this first date, the only place you'll ever kiss me is in your pending fanfic because it will never happen in real life if I witness you putting witch larvae to your lips," Della was disgusted.

"Let's go," he put the menu down and left a tip on the table for the waitress. He pulled out a blindfold. "On to the next stop."

"I don't know you well enough to let you guide me around blind," Della complained as Elias lead her block after block around Melbourne. "My feet are starting to hurt."

"Almost there," he assured her.

"You said that about ten minutes ago," she mumbled.

"Okay, now," he said, carefully removing her blindfold.

Della kept her eyes closed but she could sense bright lights in front of her. When she finally opened them, she gasped as she stood in front of the Melbourne Star. "You didn't?!"

"Yeah, I heard you talking about it earlier during the tour," he shrugged.

"You're very sweet Jeffrey. Let's take this selfie and go."

"Go?! All you wanted was a selfie?"

"Yes…"

"I got us tickets. We're getting on this wheel," he stated, grabbing her by the hand.

The bright lights of Melbourne at night were beautiful.

"Look at those people stuffing their faces with hot dogs in Costco," Elias pointed. "I just got some inspiration for my song tomorrow."

"Says the guy who just wanted to eat insects twenty minutes ago," she snorted.

Elias pressed his phone and Della standing beside him couldn't help but notice when a girl and her pushed up boobs popped up on his screen.

"Oooh, she's cute. Girlfriend?"

"No, just some fan in my DM," he said, clicking out.

"Really? Guys are still messing with randoms and rats in this social media day and age? Not only is it shameful but it's reckless as well."

"I'm not doing anything with the randoms or rats. Now when we stop in towns and I meet a few nice young ladies, sure," he winked.

"Few?" her neck snapped.

He shrugged. "Hey, I have to get as many as I can while I'm in the come up. I can either go up the card or down the card and trust me, the caliber of women a jobber gets isn't on the level of women midcarders get. Imagine what'll happen when I make it to the main event scene."

"You're a pig," she scoffed.

"Oink, oink," he grinned. "Who cares? I'm not trying to settle down right now anyway. Hey, isn't that Marina?"

Della squinted out of the window. She spotted a short figure and a tall figure with a manbun beside her. "It is her...and Seth! Hmm."

"So who hurt you?" Elias asked as he piggy backed her to the hotel because of her feet.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"I kind of got the feeling that you had a boyfriend during my initial pursuit which caused you to shoot me down. Now, you and your boyfriend aren't together anymore and this feels like a rebound date."

"Technically, he wasn't my boyfriend..." Della sighed.

"Go on… Who was he? Is he on the roster?"

"Of course not. I don't date wrestlers, remember?" Della chuckled bitterly.

"You'd think you were single because there was no indication that you were seeing anyone on your social media profiles."

"Stalker alert! But, that's the way it had to be between us. We could never be seen together. What you and I are doing right now? Forget about it. That's why I freaked out when I saw fans filming us together earlier."

"That guy was an asshole. Who would hide someone like you? I'm already showing you off and you aren't even mine... _yet_ ," he emphasized.

"I wouldn't call him an asshole. It takes two and I went along with it and would probably still be with him if I wasn't pulled in another direction," she replied.

"Did you love him?"

"Yes."

"Did he love you?"

She closed her eyes. "I don't know."

Elias shook his head. "Just like I said...asshole. If a man loves a woman, he's going to show, prove and say it."

Della gazed up at him as they rode the elevator to their floor. "Um, I just wanted to say that I had a really good time with you tonight."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, and you'd like to see me again," Elias sighed with fake annoyance.

"I didn't say all of that."

"But you were thinking it," he smirked. "Also, you didn't want me to eat the larvae for _reasons_ and I didn't."

"So I guess you want a goodnight kiss?"

"If it's not too much trouble."

Della stood on her toes to kiss him, a small peck at first. The second time, Elias meant business, opening his mouth and meeting her tongue. She should have stopped it there before things escalated but she didn't want to. She wrapped her leg around him, pressing their bodies together and she could feel his bulge rubbing against her stomach.

The elevator ding separated them. He chuckled, adjusting himself in his pants. "If this were a movie, a big group of people would be standing there waiting to get on."

"Jeffrey, let's go to your room…" she blurted.

He looked surprised, shaking his head. "That kiss didn't mean I was expecting anything, Stoney."

She smiled. "I know."

In his room they did everything except penetration. When he went into his wallet for a condom, she told him no and he got back in bed and fell asleep.

Della sighed as she stared into the darkness with the thick arm of Elias around her waist. She should've known better than to get carried away with him. He didn't have Roman's sexual touch and nothing he did reminded her of being with Roman and that was a good thing. She needed someone new. That's when panic set it. There was no way she could fall for another unsuitable man especially one who met a _few_ women in each town. She needed to get out of there before she got too comfortable in his arms.

His breathing was deep and steady and she hoped that meant he was out. She slowly pulled away from him, detangling herself carefully so she didn't wake him. He stirred a few times and she froze but her movements didn't seem to draw him out of his slumber. She used the light from her phone to locate her clothes and dressed in a hurry. She was pretty sure her dress was on backwards but it was 2:33 AM, who cares? She flashed the light on him, the sheets just covered his crotch, leaving his hard chest and abs on display. There was a part of her that wanted to get back in bed with him but she couldn't.

Della slowly crept into the hallway holding her pumps in her hand, she squinted while her eyes adjusted to the light. She saw a broad figure coming up the hall carrying a duffle bag. Her only hope was that it wasn't a fan witnessing her walk of shame.

"Delesia?"

Della blinked rapidly and Roman became clear in front of her. "Roman? What are you doing out this late?"

"I couldn't sleep so I went down to the hotel gym to try to burn off some energy," he pulled his key card out of his sweat pants and opened his door, grabbing her hand to bring her inside.

"I don't think this is a good idea."

He didn't listen, tossing his bag aside, he walked forward to wrap his arms around her waist, pressing her body up against him completely. "Did I tell you how much I missed you?"

"You did and I miss you too but we can't do this anymore," she had to admit she felt back at home again in his arms.

"Please let me make love to you one last time then we can part ways for good. Things ended abruptly last time and we didn't have that opportunity to properly say goodbye to each other."

At one point she wished that they had that opportunity as well but now she knew that it shouldn't have happened and wasn't going to now. "In order to make love to me, you'd have to actually love me."

"Baby, I do," he replied, leaning down to kiss her neck.

"Yeah, sure. How convenient," she snorted. "Oldest trick in the book."

"It's not a trick though," he pulled away, walking over to the nightstand to retrieve his phone. "Come sit down."

Curious, Della walked over to sit next to him on the bed. He scrolled through his messages until he pulled up theirs. The date of the message was on the night of their last Facetime.

 **Joe: I love u too. I know those words don't mean shit if I can't shout it from the rooftops but I wanted u to know that u aren't alone.**

 **Joe: Say something?**

 **Joe: D?**

 **Joe: …**

 **Joe: Hey, just trying to check on u again.**

 **Joe: They asked me to partner with u for the MMC and I said yes.**

 **Joe: I had to pull out of it. I'm sorry.**

 **Joe: Wait, what am I apologizing for? It's not like u want to have anything to do with me if this one sided convo is any indication lol.**

 **Joe: It was good to see u tonight even if you walked away. Looking forward to crossing paths again in Australia. And tell your friend to stop rolling her eyes at me now that I'm out of the way...like she wanted. I'd tell you about the underhanded shit she did but Seth swore me to secrecy.**

Della's eyes watered reading those three words, ignoring everything else. A tear dropped on his screen. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes, baby, I do. As a married man, I had to come to terms with it myself before admitting it to you. When you finally told me that night in the closet, I had to stop myself from saying it back. I don't want to hide it anymore because being away from you has now shown me how much you meant to me. I love you, D," he finished by kissing her. "Let's go back to the way we used to be but better now that neither of us is holding back our true feelings."

Della found herself returning his kiss. She loved him, he loved her, they loved each other...but that wasn't enough. His body began flattening hers to the bed. This had to stop, not only because it was wrong but because she'd just left Elias. "Joe, no!"

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up.

Della stood to her feet, sighing as she began to address the situation. "A month ago hearing those words would've meant everything to me. I've done a lot of thinking in our time apart and you're right…those words don't mean shit unless ' _and my marriage is over, I want to be with you'_ follows. We both know that'll never happen. I love you, Joe and I always will but being your side chick and hiding behind hotel room walls isn't appealing to me anymore especially after spending the evening walking hand and hand with a man, sitting in the middle of a public restaurant with him and having our photo taken without worrying about it becoming a scandal."

Roman blinked, finally taking in her appearance for the first time. His eyes narrowed into slits as he looked from her messy hair to her dress on backwards and finally down at her bare feet.

"I'm just going to go," Della began backing away as she stared at him. His eyes were filled with a mix of hurt and anger. When she turned around to head toward the door, she heard his footsteps pounding.

"Did you let him fuck you?" he hissed behind her, sounding betrayed.

"No, I did not," Della answered, turning around to face him. She could see that he was struggling to control his anger.

"Well you did something with that motherfucking judging by the way you look," he scowled down at her.

"It wasn't fucking and if it was, so what? Did you not tell me to give him a chance? Was I not supposed to engage in sexual activity with a potential boyfriend or is that just reserved for my married boyfriend?"

"Fuck! I had my lips on you. I probably have his spit and god knows what else in my mouth now." He stormed into the bathroom and she heard him gargling before spitting into the sink.

"How fucking dare you!" Della scoffed. "There's no telling how much of Galina's DNA I have floating around inside my body assuming she gave you goodbye sex only for you to get your ass straight on a plane, get off, come to the hotel and fuck me. You made sure to scrub your body clean of any trace of me before going home but I doubt you showered wifey off."

"That's different!" he yelled.

"How? Is it because I was aware that I was potentially getting someone else's sloppy seconds and you weren't?" she countered. "You're selfish and you're a coward. I'm appalled by you having the audacity to get pissy over me fooling around with Elias when you have a family at home. That's the problem with you married men. You want to have your cake and eat it too while the mistress is supposed to be the faithful to you and only you. Newsflash, we haven't been together in almost two months so I can do what and whoever I want. Then you get me in here, drop the ' _I love you'_ bomb and think that's going to get me back? Ha! Thanks for proving once and for all that you ain't shit."

"Oh, I ain't shit? What does that make you? _You_ were the one happily fucking and sucking Galina's DNA off my dick. _You_ were the one sleeping next to me every night on the road. _You_ were the one whispering that you loved me while I slept. _You_ were the one crying on me that night we ended things," he spat. "Why should I be surprise that you _already_ have his dick in your mouth? Hell, you fucked me on the first night. I wouldn't even call it a night because all it took was fifteen minutes worth of small talk to get you up to my room."

Della's mouth opened and closed, at a loss for words. The only thing she could respond with was a sharp slap that echoed like a thunderclap.

Roman reached up to grab his face. The strike seemed to bring him back to reality. He immediately looked apologetic and embarrassed, taking a step toward her. "Delesia, baby, I'm so sorry."

A pounding knock came on his connecting door. Roman walked over and opened it. Marina stormed in wearing Seth's black t-shirt.

"Marina, no!" Seth tried to grab her but it was too late.

The force of the backhanded slap Marina delivered turned Roman's head. "You're damn right you're sorry you son of a bitch. Della, be glad this is over and you had him in his prime before he turns into a five hundred pound diabetic Samoan. Yeah, Roman, take all the pictures you want of that bloated, barely formed four pack because eventually those genes are going to catch up. Let's not forget this guy shares the same DNA as Rosey."

Roman took a hard angry breath. His eyes blazing, his body shaking with rage as he turned to Seth. "You better get that bitch out of here, NOW!"

"This bitch can get herself out of here!" Marina shot back.

"Wait, Marina, speaking of that picture, I don't buy that trainer excuse for one second. If it was for a man, trainer or not, Galina needs to worry about a side dick instead of a side chick!" Della added.

"Fuck you!" he yelled at her.

"Never again!" Della flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Get your ass out of here too!"

"Marina, your shoes," Seth said ducking back into his room and coming back in holding a pair of heels. "Goodnight you two."

"What's so good about it, Seth?" Della shook her head.

"Now _that's_ a breakup," Marina said, flexing her hand. "We should've jumped him but the slaps were good enough. My hand is still stinging so I can imagine how his face feels right now. Seth and I were listening the whole time and you did good and left no room for reconciliation like last time."

"Did you have to bring his dead brother into things?"

"He lowkey called you a whore with that first night comment. It was no holds barred from there and please redirect your anger towards its rightful owner," Marina scoffed.

"He was upset, I was upset and we both said some fucked up things to each other."

Stop making excuses for him!" Marina came to a full stop in the middle of the hallway. "He called you a whore and he called me a bitch. I'm going to tell you right now, if you go back to him at any point in your life I promise I will never speak to you again. I don't care how many matches you throw. I don't care if we're still living under the same roof and still a tag team. We're done. If a married man who just shitted on you is worth more than our friendship, I will gladly let him have you. I'm not bullshitting, D. Unlike Roman, I can keep my word, vows, promises and every other synonym of the word."

"I hear you. What were you doing in Seth's room anyway? I know you used to go over to his room when your room was next to ours but that wasn't the case tonight?"

"Let's stay on topic..."

"Are you two messing around? Is that the underhanded shit that you've been allegedly doing?"

"What are you talking about?"

Della shrugged. "I don't know but whatever you did, Seth swore Roman to secrecy over it."

Marina appeared to be thinking. "Oh yeah, _that_. Trust me, babe, it was worth it and I regret nothing."

* * *

"What the fuck?!" Seth paced the room back and forth.

"Not now, Seth," Roman sat at the foot of his bed. He needed time alone to figure out what the hell just happened. "I didn't mean to call your girlfriend or whatever she is a bitch. I wasn't raised like that but it was in the heat of the moment and she insulted my brother."

"Yeah, I understand. A lot of fucked up things were said in this room tonight. I'm about to go back to my room and try to get some sleep. You should do the same," Seth excused himself.

Roman was at his most vulnerable when he finally confessed his true feelings to her only to find out that she'd been with Elias. That hurt him so he wanted to hurt her too. Anger plus hurt equaled him going way too fucking far.

He understood everything she said to him. What he attempted to do tonight wasn't fair to her. He assumed love would be enough and never stopped to wonder how she'd feel. He just expected her accept those three words and be all in again. Galina was the only one who qualified as a victim in this but tonight he'd broken Delesia. He'd never seen that look in her eyes before. She was gone and there was no turning back.

He expected to toss and turn all night but his eyes closed as soon as his head made contact with the pillow.

His alarm sounded, waking him up. There was a large stretch between 3 AM and 10 AM but it felt like 7 minutes of sleep instead of 7 hours. When he walked into the bathroom mirror and noticed his face, it caused panic. The left side of his face was red and swollen. Delesia's slap came from a place of hurt and it packed a punch but Marina's slap was pure hatred. He called downstairs for a bucket of ice to try to get the swelling down.

His phone rung on his nightstand. Galina. It was still the previous night in Tampa. He couldn't answer. There was a time he was able to keep his family and his affair separate but when Delesia left, she took the balance with her. During the affair, he was able carry on like normal. He'd go home, play with the boys and catch up with Galina. Now he went straight to bed and caught up on sleep he missed on the road. He felt horrible, they didn't deserve to miss out on the little time they had with him. He was the champion now so Galina assumed it was stress.

 **G: Hey, I guess you're busy. The kids just wanted to say good luck today before they went to bed. We love you.**

 **Joe: Yea, was in the shower when you called. I love you guys too. Kiss them goodnight for me. I'll call you later.**

Something had to give. He couldn't keep doing this to his family. Now that Delesia wasn't coming back he had to get his life back on track. As hard as it was to lose Delesia, losing his family would hurt a million times worse.

Roman went downstairs to breakfast. A lot of his fellow Superstars were down there but there was no sign of her or Marina.

Two buses waited outside for them. One for Raw, one for Smackdown.

"Goddamn, Ro, what happened to your face?" Titus asked as they loaded onto the bus. The swelling wasn't nearly as bad as it was that morning but it was still noticeable.

"Never go on sleepy bathroom runs in a dark hotel room. Ran straight into the door frame," Roman said the first excuse that came to mind.

"Yeah, I heard him when he hollered," Seth added.

"Hollered?" Titus laughed. "The diva's era has returned!"

"Thanks, now I'm going to be ribbed about this shit for the next few weeks," Roman mumbled.

"Eh, you deserve it," Seth shrugged.

Roman went to the very back of the bus and sat down next to Dean.

When he looked up Elias was coming down the aisle. Roman was glaring at him but it was hidden behind his dark sunglasss. Elias extended his hand, Roman stared at, eventually shaking it. Then Elias plopped down in the window seat in front of Dean leaving an empty seat next to him.

Roman secured a pair of headphones over his ears and was scrolling through his music library when he finally spotted Delesia rolling her suitcase outside of the bus. She too was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. It was weird, despite everything that was said and done last night, he still loved her and wondered if she felt the same. Probably not after the fucked up things he said to her.

To his surprise she bypassed Smackdown's bus and stepped onto Raw's bus. She was back? _No._ Seeing his face constantly would only remind her of the fight. They needed distance in order to cool down from last night. How could she forgive him this way. Then of course she'd have her guard dog in her ear. He couldn't believe Seth when he accidentally revealed that it was Marina behind the Smackdown move.

Marina sat down first and as Delesia was getting ready to sit, Elias whistled from the back. Delesia looked back there and Roman could tell she was looking at him behind those shades. Elias motioned for her to come back there and she shook her head. Marina seemed to encourage her to go, putting a bag in the empty seat.

She hesitantly made her way down the aisle and sat directly in front of Roman.

"About last night…" Elias started.

"Not here," Della hissed.

"Look around, everybody has their ears plugged and are in their own world. One time I was back here choking for 3 minutes straight before someone finally looked up and noticed," he laughed. "So come on, let's get it over with."

"I've been thinking, and I don't think whatever is happening between us should continue," Della started and Roman wanted to sigh in relief but that would tip her off that he was listening.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing. It's not about you, it's about what I need and I don't think you can give it to me. We got carried away last night and I should have stopped to think first. This isn't what I want right now."

"Stoney, did you even think to ask me what I could give you? No, because you were too busy running away from me the second you heard me snoring," Elias sounded annoyed and Roman was equally annoyed listening to him. Who the hell was Stoney.

"I didn't run. You don't need this shit, either. I'm all fucked up right now and I can't give you anything," she shook her head. Good.

"Bullshit, I recall you giving me great head last night and I returned the favor," Elias chuckled and if Roman could've gotten away with choking him out from behind, Elias would be dead. Hearing that he was in her mouth made Roman want to gag knowing that he kissed her after the fact.

"Jeffrey, please!" she shhhed him, looking around to make sure no one heard. "It was way too much way too fast."

"Maybe all that happened so fast because we're good together, not because it's wrong. Maybe you should think less and let us get to know each other."

"That's the thing though. I get into things way too fast without thinking and last time, it ended badly. I don't want to do that again. I need to think about things sometimes, not just follow what I feel," she explained and Roman felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He'd successfully scarred her.

Elias looked over at her sympathetically. "I know we've just started hanging out but I really hope I turn out to be more than just some guy who got you into bed. If I'm not more, I want to be. Actually, I wasn't trying to get you in bed and let's not forget it was _you_ who asked to come to my room. I'm not complaining but it just happened. Please don't throw this away without at least giving us a chance."

"What happened to not settling down and getting with as many chicks that you can while you're on the come up?"

"Mostly bravado. I didn't want you to think I was desperate so I portrayed myself as this carefree bachelor. The truth is, I don't generally leap into bed with girls I just meet, and I don't pursue anyone I don't want for a lot more than a quick fuck. You might not believe me, but I really do want everything I just said. When they paired us for the Mixed Match Challenge, I thought I was just getting a chance to get to know you better and hopefully get on your good side after that rumor incident. I didn't know how well we'd get along but we got along well alright," he chuckled.

Every time he referenced sex with Delesia Roman's blood boiled.

Elias continued. "I know you're scared. It's not easy to get out of a relationship that meant a lot to you and not worry that this will end up the same, but I'm not that asshole. I'm not hiding who I am and you won't ever have to pretend that we're not dating and I'd be proud to have you as my girl if you'll let me."

 _Asshole_? Roman couldn't be mad because after last night that was the perfect word to describe him. This is actually what he wanted for her, to move on and be happy. To be with someone who could give her what he couldn't. The problem was, he didn't expect their relationship to be over that quick and he damn sure didn't expect her to move on in front of him.

Della sniffed. "I am scared and maybe if we take this slow I can get over it. I'll understand if you don't want to. I mean after last night, it'll probably be hard to go back down to first base."

"We can take this as slow as you want. I would like to get to know you better, I'm sure it will be worth it. What happened last night was amazing, and I hope it will happen again some day and we go all the way but I'm happy for us to stay outside the bedroom while we work this out."

"How do you know the right things to say to me?" She asked and Roman wondered the same.

"I don't know that they are, it's not like you've believed me so far."

"No, they are," she replied,

"So how about after the show tonight, we sit and watch Netflix with a couple of drinks, eat some witchetty grub and have a chilled out night, no more thinking, and no more 'too fast'?"

She laughed. "You really are trying to keep us out of the bedroom if you're serious about the larvae."

That night, Roman prepared himself in the locker room for his match, The Shield vs Braun, Dolph and Drew.

Elias was watching the monitor intently during B&B vs Sasha and Bayley.

"So are you two a couple now? You two are all over Twitter and you sat together on the bus earlier," someone asked.

"If we are it won't be the business of you teenagers in here," he smiled. "I learned my lesson from that the last time."

Roman shook his head, the guy serious about her. How could he not be? She was easy to fall for as he knew.

"What's wrong with you?" Dean asked, beside him. Roman didn't respond because the same thing that was wrong with him is what was right with Elias.

Loud cheering turned his head to the monitor. "The winners of this match and the new women's tag team champions, Della Stone and Marina Diaz, The Bold and Bitchy."


	12. The End

**Author's Note: Monday morning, I was making an outline for the Evolution PPV chapter of this story. Monday night, I was crying my eyes out and deleted it. I'd made the decision to NOT to update this story again but I felt guilty because I turned Roman into an asshole last chapter (he would've eventually redeemed himself but that's neither here nor there now). This morning, I decided that I couldn't leave things that way.**

 **That being said, this will officially be the last chapter of The Last One. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wouldn't feel right carrying the story on like normal with Roman and if I kept it going minus Roman my heart wouldn't have been in it.**

 **Get well soon Joe so I can write more stories about you. ;-)**

* * *

The Friday and Saturday house shows passed in a blur, Della was tired Sunday morning but when Elias turned up at her hotel room requesting to spend the morning with her before driving to the next town for Sunday's show, she made an effort and loved every moment of it. It felt great to spend time with him when there was no pressure for anything and she could take some time to get to know him. She had no idea if she could handle a relationship even though it annoyed her that she was not over what happened with Roman.

She was nervous about starting anything and the fact that Elias seemed to understand that and kept from pushing her in any way made that both better and worse. She felt bad for not being able to let him in just yet, but then she reminded herself that if she wasn't ready to commit to things with him in less than a month it was hardly something to worry about.

Elias was perfect, not only in his looks, but how he was with Della. He touched her a few times while they were out, just taking her hand or putting his arm around her shoulder and it made her appreciate the fact that she didn't have to hide that she was involved with him. This was dating openly and showed her what she could never have with Roman. Elias was with her most of the time, except when she went to bed. That was the only place she hadn't managed to let him as yet but he still wasn't pushing that aspect of their relationship. She knew she was holding back and he knew it as well but still he didn't pressure her. When they went to different cities, he'd get his own room and she'd room with Marina. After shows, she'd go down to his room for a few hours and he didn't seem to expect anything. Everything she hadn't had with Roman, she now had...the hand holding, dating and not hiding it, all the little things that she wanted.

He was someone she could plan a future with, fall asleep curled up with, make love to not just fuck. He didn't pretend they were nothing to each other and spent time with her friends and her family when they visited. He made her happy in ways she never thought she would be again. She could also vent about things that happened with Roman without mentioning his name and he didn't judge her.

It hadn't escaped her that most of her lingering thoughts about Roman were slowly being replaced with more immediate and needy ones relating to Elias. The more he became involved in her life the more she enjoyed having him there. It made her realise how shallow her life had become, sneaking around behind hotel walls with Roman in an arrangement she knew wouldn't work out. Even worse, during that space between their Summerslam breakup, dwelling on that time in her life without trying to sort herself out. She got to spend a lot more time at the Performance Center training as well as teaching new recruits. Marina was happy because Della obviously was too.

That Sunday night at the house show, Della deadlifted Nia for a gutwrench powerbomb. The crowd popped for her impressive show of strength. She went for the pin but Nia kicked out at 2. Nia fought to the corner and tagged in Ember so Della followed suit and tagged in Marina. Ember immediately hits Marina with a dropkick, wasting no time at all. Ember gets some offense in a series of kicking strikes and a enziguri. Marina ends her momentum full stop with a nasty Cuban Destroyer. 1...2...3.

Della secured her wet hair in a ponytail after the show. "You know what I've noticed...Roman hasn't been here all weekend. I wonder what's going on?"

"Who cares?" Marina shrugged. "How would you feel if Elias was mulling over the whereabouts of his ex?"

"If the reason for his concern was justified, I wouldn't care. Don't you find it strange that he's not here and there's no reason behind it?"

"No, not really," Marina shook her head. "The guy is married with children. Maybe he wanted to spend some time with them before the international tour starts."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Della agreed. The last time she saw him was Monday after Raw and he seemed perfectly fine. There was no visible injury and he wasn't limping or anything. Maybe she was simply overthinking it.

* * *

The drive to Raw the next day was awkward to say the least. The only ones talking were her, Marina and Elias. Seth remained silent the entire trip. It seemed like his thoughts were preoccupied with something. Even when Marina tried to include him in the conversation, he didn't respond and after a while she stopped.

When they pulled up to the arena, Elias and Marina immediately got out of the vehicle. Della was reaching for the door handle when Seth spoke for the first time.

"Della?"

"Hmm?"

He didn't turn around in his seat to look at her and his hands were gripping the steering wheel tight with white knuckles. "I think you should talk to Joe before the show starts."

"I haven't talk to Joe in weeks and as you know that last conversation didn't go well so I don't know what we'd have to discuss," she replied.

"Della, please let that petty bullshit you've been holding onto these last few weeks go! Tonight is much bigger than all of it," Seth's voice faltered.

She caught a glimpse of his eyes through the rearview mirror and they were sad. It was at this moment that she began to worry. "Something's wrong. Is he injured? Is his family okay?"

"Like I said, you need to talk to him. There's a select few that he doesn't want blindsided by the announcement and you're included in that number," he said.

"Announcement?" a dark feeling begin to come over her. "Seth, what's wrong?"

"It's not my story to tell," he dropped his head.

The car door opened. "He couldn't talk the whole ride but now he's chatting. What's going on?"

"Nothing, Marina, let's just go inside," Della was in a hurry to get out and inside to find Roman.

"What are you even looking for?" Marina asked as Della frantically walked around backstage.

"Girls, I'm glad I found you two," Triple H said walking into Della's path. "Walk to my office for a second."

Della sighed loudly in annoyance. "Okay."

"We finally have your plans for Evolution set," he said. "Your tag titles will be put on the line in a tag team invitational. You will go up against teams from both the past and the present."

"How long is this match supposed to be?" Marina asked but Della didn't care. She didn't care about anything at this moment except Roman.

"Twenty-five minutes but of course it's going to be small matches according to level of threat," he explained. "When you face the team of Torrie Wilson and Kelly Kelly, of course you could put them away in a squash in less than a minute, someone like Laycool you'd take 3-5 minutes up, same for the IIconics, Sasha and Bayley, Riott Squad, Absolution, Ivory and Molly Holly."

"We're keeping them, right?" Marina replied.

"Is that it?" Della hastily asked.

H seemed surprised by her reaction. "Yeah, you two have a match with the Riott Squad tonight and afterwards you can make the open challenge."

She looked at her phone and it was less than ten minutes to the start of the show. That's when she saw him. She found it weird that he was casually dressed this close to start. He'd usually have his logo'd muscle shirt, cargo pants and combats on by now. He didn't look like anything was wrong which confused her.

Roman turned around and his eyes found her. He looked down at his rolex and jerked his head to the left, signaling her to follow him until they found a secluded area. This was definitely something she didn't miss about dealing with him. The secretiveness and sneaking off. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied.

"I tried texting you this morning but I forgot you blocked me," he chuckled. "I had Rollins pass you the message."

"What's going on? He seemed kind of upset when we talked earlier," Della felt anxious and her nerves were on edge despite not knowing the nature of his pending announcement.

He took a deep breath and his chest rose and fell with it. "Before I begin, I don't want you to have any harsh feelings toward me especially after tonight. I want to apologize for the way I behaved and for the things I said to you. If I hurt you in anyway, I'm sorry."

"I'm not worried about that right now, Joe. I'm worried about you. I know you didn't mean it and I didn't mean any of the things I said to you in return. Now please, tell me what's going on," she begged.

"Delesia, I..."he trailed off, closing his eyes. A deep, cold feeling of dread arose in the pit of her stomach. It was clear whatever he had to say wasn't good. He composed himself and was about to speak again but he paused when he looked over her shoulder. Della turned around to follow his vision and saw Marina approaching.

"Please tell me you aren't reverting back to your old ways. I thought we established that he was a piece of shit back in Australia," Marina said. "I wasn't even looking for you, I was casually walking and saw this. What if Elias did the same?"

"Marina, stop! Something is wrong with him," Della replied.

"I can think of a few things wrong with him but Raw is about to start and I don't have time to list them all. If you'll excuse us," Marina sneered at Roman before dragging Della away.

It wasn't soon after they entered the locker room that the show started and his theme hit. Della planted herself in front of the television in there. None of the other women were really paying attention until he began speaking.

"He looks kind of sad," Sasha noted, still getting dressed for tonight.

"I wonder if he's injured. It would make sense why he missed the house shows this weekend," Bayley replied. "We'll see in a minute, I guess."

"..my real name is Joe and I've been living with Leukemia for 11 years..." he paused momentarily.

Everyone gasped and it felt like the air was sucked out of the room. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. No one seemed to know what to say or how to react as they stared back and forth in disbelief at each other.

"...and unfortunately it's back," he finished the sentence.

Della felt numb and the rest of his speech barely penetrated her. She couldn't think, concentrate or move. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until her body forced her to gasp in a deep breath.

Most of the girls had emptied the locker room by the time he made his way up the ramp but Della couldn't leave. When Della was alone with the exception of Marina, she sank down the wall, weeping.

"Holy shit," Marina sat down. "Do you want to go out there?"

"No, I can't. I'm going to break down and hang onto him until I feel like letting him go and I won't care who's there to witness it," Della declined through tears. "All I know is I can't be in this locker room when everyone returns. I just need to be alone right now."

Della walked in the opposite direction of everyone else. She didn't know where she was going as she moved aimlessly.

"Stoney?" she heard Elias calling her name but she kept moving.

Della entered a break room on the other side of the arena consisting of several small circular tables and chairs, along with microwaves and two refrigerators. She was glad that she was alone because at this point she was inconsolable anyway.

Cancer. _Cancer_. How could this happen to him? But that's when she realized that no matter who you were, how rich or how attractive a person was, cancer didn't discriminate. She tried to think positively but when she thought about Galina and his three young children that'll be fighting this battle alongside him, she broke down again.

 **Marina: Where r u.**

 **Della: Break room**

 **Marina: Where?**

 **Della: I don't even kno. I just walked until I found it.**

 **Marina: K. I'll find you.**

 **Della: Pls don't especially if you're bringing negativity.**

 **Marina: Do u really think I'd do that after what just happened?**

About fifteen minutes later, the door opened and Marina sighed in relief. "I've opened just about every door in this arena and I've walked in on some weird shit on the way. I'm here and as you can see I didn't bring negative but I did however bring something else. _Someone_ else, rather."

When Della looked up, Joe was leaning in the doorframe. "I saw the rest of the card tonight and I believe you have a match later on. You can't got out there all puffy and swollen now, can you?"

Della screamed for him, running to hug him as she cried and blubbered. He tightened his hold of her and she felt like a wet sponge, the harder he squeezed, the more water fell from her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried," he simply replied.

She shook her head. "No, before tonight."

"I was in remission so it wasn't really relevant until tonight. When we were together things were fun and carefree and I didn't want to talk about something like that especially if you were going to react this way," he teased.

"Yeah, I'm a wreck as you can see but can you blame me?" she sniffed. "Are you going to be okay,"

He nodded. "Yes, in time. I beat this thing once and I'm going to do it again."

"This doesn't seem real," she was still in disbelief. It was hard to process it. Joe was only human but to her he felt immortal. "Please tell me this isn't real. Tell me that Vince has finally lost his mind and forced you to say that in some sick, twisted angle."

"No, Delesia, unfortunately it's very real and I wouldn't dare joke about it," he confirmed.

She responded with a fresh round of tears. "Joe, you are no doubt the strongest man I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. You work 300 days a year carrying this company on your back, you went out there and bumped like crazy and took all kinds of crap from the fans all while secretly dealing with this. You're a man who never talked about surviving leukemia to anyone, never complained, exploited it or used it as an excuse. You continued to push yourself, you worked hard and you set an example for everyone in the locker room all while being a kind and cons who continued to push himself, work hard, and set an example for others, all while apparently being a kind and conscientious guy. You've always been the GOAT in my book since I've had the opportunity to work with you up close and personal but this just cemented it."

"Me, the GOAT and not some Japanese wrestler?" he snorted humorously. "I'm honored."

"Why are you joking at a time like this?" she was puzzled by his nonchalance.

"It's like I said out there, I have faith. This isn't just a physical battle, it's a mental one as well. It's going to be a long and hard road, I won't lie but I plan to stay in high spirits throughout the ordeal," he replied and now she understood.

"How is your family taking it?"

"My brother's loss is still fresh on my dad is pretty broken up about it as well as my mom. The boys are too young to know that anything's wrong. Jojo is taking it pretty hard. I was afraid to tell her but she watches RAW so I knew I had to sit her down and talk to her beforehand. A few minutes ago you called me the strongest man you've ever met, well, I consider Galina the strongest woman I've ever met. When I found out, I cried more than she did that night. I couldn't even look at my kids but she had to be strong for the both of us for them," he teared up but blinked it away. "Delesia, I will never think of you as a mistake and I enjoyed every second of our time together but this coming back made me feel horrible about what I've been doing behind her back. She has literally been there for me through thick and thin, rich and poor, cancer and recovery and now cancer again. When I beat this, I'm going to spend the next 11 years and the next 11 years after that making it up to her."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," she smiled.

He looked down at his watch. "Alright, I have to hit the road now."

Della held on to him as tight as she could because she knew this may be the last time she'd see him for a long time. "Joe, I love you... _platonically._ "

"Same... _platonically,_ " he replied. "Despite your accusations, you're still and will forever be the last one. I'll be watching from home every now and then and I expect to see you doing what you do best."

"I'm going to unblock you now so I hope I can hear from you every now and then…" she said, hopeful.

"You will," he assured her. "I'll see you soon."

"Don't say that," she shook her head. "Sure, that's what I want to hear and I'm sure the fans are going to be guesstimating a timeline for your return but you take as much time as you need. I don't care if it's 6 months from now, a year or even five years, don't rush it. Enjoy this time with your family and make sure you're 100% when you do return."

"Thank you," he slowly pulled away.

Della was surprised to see Marina wiping tears when he walked by. "Rom..I mean, Joe, I don't know what to say. I-"

"Just bring it in," he opened his arms offering her a hug that she accepted without hesitation. "I'm sorry I called you a bitch that night."

"Eh, I've been so mean to you these last few months and it would've been appropriate for how I treated you tonight when you were only trying to disclose your situation to D."

"No, it's never appropriate and don't go soft on me now. At the end of the day, I know you were just looking out for Delesia like a good friend should. No matter how hard we tried to clean it up, what we had felt right but it was wrong and you were the only one willing to call us out on it. But that's not important anymore. It's up to you to take care of her now...and Rollins."

"I will and you take care of yourself," Marina patted him on the back.

Della turned her head away. She couldn't watch him leave but she forced herself to look at him not knowing if this would be the last time she _**ever**_ saw him. He smiled at her before disappearing and she felt better. The look of determination on his face was not of that of a man ready to give up and she was confident that he'd bounce back from this.

"This is probably the first and last time I'll give you permission to cry over a married man," Marina gave her a hug of comfort and Della cried on her shoulder for at least five minutes. "Alright, dry it up. We have a match soon. I'm sure Roman himself would tell you that the show must go on."

* * *

Just like the ride to the arena, the ride from the arena was awkward and quiet. Della usually showered but tonight she ran a tub of water to soak her body as well as her sorrows.

Elias walked in and sat on the side of the tub and circled his hand around in the water. She was naked. He hadn't seen her body since Australia but she didn't care at the moment enough to shy away. "We've officially been together a few weeks now and I've never once lied to you. Can you say the same?"

"Yeah," Della answered without paying much thought to what he was saying or the point he was trying to make.

"Okay, now that's two lies," he replied.

"Jeffrey, tonight is not the night for whatever this is we're doing right now," she sighed in exasperation.

"No, Stoney, this needs to be said and maybe it'll help you cope if we talked about it openly instead of you keeping it bottled up inside," he stated. "On our first date, I asked you if the guy was on the roster, you said no. You've been telling me about this mystery guy for weeks now. It's Reigns, isn't it?"

Della sat up hard and splashed water on the floor in the process. She was tired of lying at this point and decided to admit it. "How'd you know?"

"It was pretty easy to figure out. He wasn't as friendly with me as he was before you and I began dating, you avoided him, I'd catch him watching you, Marina openly showed disdain for him and finally, this. Maybe you should've taken a shower because the steady stream of water would've drowned out the crying and I wouldn't have heard," he replied.

"Are you mad? Are you going to tell anyone?" she asked in succession.

"Nah, I have nothing but respect for Roman and something that happened before our time isn't going to change my opinion of either of you. WHEN he makes it back I'm going to walk up to him, shake his hand and thank him because wherever he went wrong drove you to me and I'm grateful," he said.

There was something other than this conversation going on in Della's mind. Her internal discussion and him knowing the truth made her realize that there was no point in holding back on something that she really wanted. The way she felt about Elias was so different from anything she'd felt before, even her love for Joe and tonight she was going to show it.

"Take me to bed, please," she whispered to him.

He raised a brow. "Are you sure about this? I really don't mind waiting."

"I'm sure," she smiled. Her words were so determined he didn't doubt her, sweeping her up from the water and carrying her into his room.

"This time, you better not get out of my bed until in the morning. Promise you won't run again," he requested.

"I promise," she nodded.

 **The End...**


	13. Chapter 13

**I said that this story was over...I had a change of heart. It won't be a regular thing (at least until Roman comes back full time) but I decided to give a short update.**

* * *

"I'll pick you two up in an hour and a half," Sadie yelled out of the car window as she backed out of the parking lot of the physical therapy rehabilitation center.

Della adjusted the crutches under her arms as she made her way up the walkway. She suffered a torn hamstring after taking a bad move in November. Estimated time out: 6 months.

Marina held the door open of the building with her good arm while the other was restrained in a sling. She suffered from a broken arm after landing wrong during a shooting star press outside of the ring. Estimated time out: 4 months.

Della worked with a physical therapist on mobility exercises for about 30 minutes before he gave her a break.

"This sucks," Marina commenter rubbing an ice pack across the surgical scar on her arm.

"I know right," Della agreed.

"It's about to be a year since we signed in March," Marina remembered.

"If we stayed indie we wouldn't be sitting on the sidelines now. We went from wrestling on Saturdays and Sundays to 4 times a week and sometimes 2 weeks straight when we're on overseas tours."

"Not to mention we were still trying to do high performance indie style matches every single time instead of just PPV matches. It was bound to catch up with us," Marina shook her head. "I'd prefer it to be nothing but I'm glad it's my arm instead of my leg because with my moveset I'd be fucked!"

"We had a good run though, put on some great matches and held the tag titles for a few months. Think we'll be ready in time for Mania?"

"I don't know about you, bitch but I will be. The WWE doctors are going to evaluate me in late March," Marina shook her shoulders in excitement.

"Calm down, even if you're cleared it won't be enough time to build a feud. Enjoy the pre-show battle royal," Della mumbled.

"No, I'll enjoy my Wrestlemania payday while you sit in the back. I wonder if they'll give it to you if I allow you to accompany me to the ring," Marina smirked in reply. "The best part about this whole injury process is that we get to spend time together. Before the injury you'd gotten with Jeffrey and you two traveled together and then you moved out of our place and into his so we never got a chance to hang out on our off days. I'm sure things may get worse after he proposes to you in April."

"Propose? What?!" Della unexpectedly put weight on her injured leg and cried out in pain.

"Yeah, he's going to ask you during his performance at Wrestlemania in front of the crowd. He's already gotten it approved by Mr. McMahon," Marina informed. "Oops, I was not supposed to tell you any of that."

"Why would he do this?"

"See, when two people fall in love with each other they-" Marina began explaining before Della interrupted.

"Save it!" she held a hand up. "I met him at last year's Wrestlemania and couldn't stand him until like September and we became official in October. Hell, it's only been 4 months!"

"It'll be 6 months by the time April rolls around," Marina pointed out.

"That's still too soon! 4 months in real time is not the same as 4 months in wrestling time. We spent October and most of November together on the road and then I got hurt. December, January and so far in February I only see him 3 times a week! How is that long enough?"

"When you know, you know," Marina shrugged.

"Did he tell you this or are you just assuming because we live together?"

"I've gone ring shopping with him twice already," she revealed. " We didn't find anything that I thought you'd like though. Your name is D. _Stone_ therefore you need a big one in your ring. We're going again tomorrow when he comes home. Now that you know I can ask which is your favorite cut of diamond, emerald, oval or princess? He liked this one but I wasn't sold," Marina leaned her phone over to show Della a heart shaped diamond and it was legit because she saw his hand on the table beside it.

"Don't you think that's some information that I would've liked to know before you began stalking jewelry stores? I am not marrying him, at least not right now. I love the guy but sheesh!" It was true that she loved Elias but despite their stable relationship, she wasn't looking for marriage anytime soon. The only thing she cared about now was recovering and getting her career back on track.

"No other man in the back is going to marry your ass so you might as well marry Jeff and call it a life," Marina replied. "How many men do you think would've been able to look past your homewrecker phase especially knowing that it was with Joe, a guy much more successful? That alone is enough to cause insecurity in a man. He hasn't told anyone about it either. That's love."

"Even if it wasn't love, do you think he would've outed the beloved cancer stricken married father," Della raised a brow. "Anyway, since you brought _him_ up, he has an Instagram account now, verified."

"Just to promote that stupid movie it seems. The Fast and Furious franchise should've died when Paul Walker did but here they are making spin-off movies. I hope it flops! Joe probably only has like two lines anyway and I'll cringe when he says them."

"It's literally impossible for the movie to flop. If it flops, I myself will propose to Jeffrey - that's not happening. And what's with the cringing? I thought you were being nicer to Joe now?"

"That's when I thought the worse and didn't want it on my conscience. He went into hiding for like a month and has been on the move ever since so I'm guessing his type of leukemia isn't severe as other cases and he's either beating it or already has since people are saying they expect him back soon…"

"I really hope that's the case but we don't know that. Let's not make assumptions about his condition, good or bad, because cancer is wildly unpredictable. When he returns, he returns."

"Have you heard from him?"

"No and I didn't expect him to. I'm sure he has far more important things on his mind."

"I was thinking, I know Sadie usually drops you back off at your place but since Jeffrey is still on the road you should come spend the night at your old home," Marina offered. "We can watch Raw tonight and cook."

* * *

When Della slid into the front seat of Sadie's car she saw the dreaded pink butterfly belt sitting on the armrest. It didn't look like a toy replica either. It seemed authentic and had her name engraved on it. "Uhm, Sadie, what is this?"

"The Divas Championship," Sadie replied casually.

Della scoffed. "I know that but why do you have it?"

"Because it's coming back," Sadie replied making both Della and Marina gasp. "Oh, no, not officially. I was told today that I'll be moving up after Wrestlemania and I'm bringing this with me to defend whenever I see fit."

"You know what, I can see it working for you," Marina noted.

Elias called right as they pulled up to the house. "Go ahead. I have to take this. Hey babe."

"What's going on, Stoney?" Elias said.

"Nothing but a limp," she chuckled.

"How was PT today?"

"It was okay. My trainer said I was progressing well so instead of 6 months it could be 4 which is somewhere between late March - early April."

"That's great but don't rush it. The ring is going to be here whenever you return."

Della went quiet as her mind reverted back to the conversation she'd had with Marina earlier regarding marriage. "Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course."

"Uhh, it's nothing, nevermind," Della replied, shaking her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I love you and I'll be watching tonight. I'm hungry so I'm about to go in the house," she said.

"Love you too Stoney. I'll call you after the show," he replied.

Della absentmindedly scrolled through Instagram and came upon another one of Joe's promo post. Without thinking twice she liked it and commented, "can't wait!" She didn't think that was too out of line since Lana, Nia and others have made comments on his posts as well.

She looked up just in time to see Elias exiting the ring after his match with Jeff Jarrett. The show went on commercial and she heard her phone ding. She knew he hadn't made it backstage and to the locker room that fast.

 **Joe: Hey, D?**

She couldn't believe her eyes. He was texting her after all this time. She didn't text back immediately as she raged a battle in her head: to respond or not to respond. Fall back down the Joe rabbit hole or not. ' _Rabbit hole_ , _he only said 'hey' not 'meet me at the nearest hotel.'_ They left things on great terms and there was nothing wrong with a casual conversation between friends.

 **Della: What's the question mark for?**

 **Joe: It's been a while and I didn't know if u had a new number, blocked me again or what.**

 **Della: Lol, no.**

 **Joe: Just spotted your comment and decided to check on you.**

 **Della: How in the hell did they convince u 2 open an IG & when r u going to give us the selfie that we deserve. **

**Joe: Don't hold ur breath for that. My IG serves one purpose and one purpose only and that's to shill Hobbs & Shaw. **

**Della: I can't believe you're shooting a movie. You hadn't even made a cameo in a WWE studios movie. You skipped right to Hollywood in a major production.**

 **Joe: Gotta make money somehow now. But seriously Dwayne called and I couldn't say no.**

 **Della: You look really great. I'm nt gonna lie, when I heard leukemia I didn't know what to expect. How are u doing?**

 **Joe: Pretty good. Just taking it one day at a time. What about u? I heard that u were so depressed and couldn't go on without me so u injured yourself.**

 **Della: Haha, I don't kno who told u that lie but if I wanted to do that I would've gone for the hand. This hamstring is no joke. Marina is out as well with a shoulder injury.**

 **Joe: How is my new friend doing?**

 **Della: Don't go that far. She revealed that she only apologized because she thought "the worse."**

 **Joe: Makes sense. Her and Rollins still doing whatever they were doing before I left?**

 **Della: Nope. It ended shortly after you left. I think what brought them together in the 1st place was her hatred for u. She needed someone "in the know" to vent to & that was him. Take you out of the equation & what's left? He still likes her tho...I think. **

**Joe: Well, I kno you're still with Elias because I took a look at your IG.**

 **Della: Yea. He knows about us btw.**

 **Joe: ?**

 **Della: I didn't tell him. He kinda figured it out on his own but dnt worry, we can trust him.**

 **Joe: Are u sure?**

 **Della: Have u read anything about us online? You haven't been around in a while but things are just as high school-ish backstage as wen u left. If he told one person the entire company would kno & there r plenty of ppl who leak stuff to dirtsheets. A wrestling journalist would've jumped at the opportunity to expose you, going through cancer treatments or not. **

**Joe: That's true.**

 **Della: Anyway, he's planning on proposing to me...**

 **Joe: Damn, already?**

 **Della: My thoughts exactly. Live in the ring at WM. -_-**

 **Joe: I'm guessing you aren't trilled?**

 **Della: Don't get me wrong, he's great. Do I love him? Yes! Do I love him enough to marry him already? No!**

 **Joe: So what are u going to do?**

 **Della: Find a way to discourage him from proposing before the big moment without tipping him off that I know. Our relationship is pretty strong but I don't think it's strong enough to survive a rejected marriage proposal in front of millions watching around the world. I don't think things will go back to the way they were without getting super awkward when we get home.**

 **Joe: I'm sure that would be a hard pill for a man to swallow. What if you said yes and just had a very long engagement.**

 **Della: No, I don't want any sort of ring on my finger until I'M ready!**

 **Joe: Marriage already. Wow. I didn't know u two were moving that fast.**

 **Della: I'm not going to lie, that had a lot to do with your situation. When I left the arena that night it was like that chapter of my life was OFFICIALLY over and I went back to the hotel and kind of snapped into a "Nevermind I'll find someone like you, etc. - Adele" mode and started feeling strong things toward him as a coping mechanism over the loss of u and things went from there. Now I kno that the feelings are legit but I'm just not ready for the next step.**

Della stared impatiently at the dots in a bubble indicating that he was typing and a long response judging by the time it took. Then all of a sudden they paused momentarily before starting again. She was expecting a paragraph but all she received was:

 **Joe: It was good talking to u. Goodnight.**

She figured he deleted his original reply.

 **Della: Goodnight Joe.**

Della sighed and leaned back on the sofa.

"Who was that?" Marina asked. Della didn't realized that she was being watched.

"Yeah, you were all into," Sadie added.

"Nobody but my worrisome Mom. You know how she's been acting every since I got hurt," Della lied easily.

"You were lying in the hospital bed immediately after surgery with the anesthesia still wearing off and she was standing over you like, ' _you won't be satisfied until you're paralyzed before you're 30! You need to leave the wrestling business while you still look good enough to do something else_ ," Marina mocked.

The show ended and Della found herself in the kitchen when Marina walked by her and headed toward the refrigerator.

"Marina, I'm thinking about taking a trip tomorrow and I want you to come with me," Della requested.

"A trip...tomorrow...when Jeffrey comes home? The same day that he invited me ring shopping again," Marina narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Her phone rang in her back pocket. _Elias_.

"Oh my god, this is him now. I almost brought _it_ up when we spoke earlier."

"You can not! He swore me to secrecy. If he finds out I told you it'll look I can't keep a secret," Marina pleaded.

"You can't," Della snorted.

"I kept your secret all this time," she pointed out.

"What secret?" Sadie asked entering the kitchen.

"Exactly," Marina tilted her head.

Della straightened herself on her crutches. "I'm going to my room."

"You're going to _a_ room because you abandoned that one when you moved in with Jeffrey," Marina called behind her.

"Before you get smug again, please remember that my name is the only one on the title because at the time you still had bad credit so technically all these rooms are mine," Della smiled over her shoulder.

"It would be a shame if that crutch was kicked, I mean _slipped_ from under your arms and you fell and hurt something else," Marina threatened.

"I'll make sure I land on your arm," Della shot back.

Della called Elias back when she made it to her room. "Jeffrey…"

"Hey, what were you doing a few minutes ago?"

"I was in the kitchen with Marina and Sadie and I wanted privacy so I decided to take the call in my room. _Obviously,_ I couldn't run back here in a hurry," she laughed.

"Oh, they came over?"

"No, I'm at my old place. Also, I'm flying home to Chicago tomorrow and Marina is coming with me," Della said knowing it would put a dent in his ring shopping plans.

"Are you going to be gone my entire break?"

"No, I'll be back Thursday morning and since that's your last day home we can spend every waking moment together. I don't want you to leave the house at all," she replied flirtatiously in another attempt to keep him away from ring shopping. She knew she couldn't keep him home bound every week so she had to come up with a plan and fast now that they were on the road to Wrestlemania.

"Have I told you how much I missed you today? I know I say it everyday and I'm not just saying it because it's what I'm _supposed_ to say now that we're in a semi-long distance relationship."

"Aww, I miss you so much Jeffrey. Now tell me what I'm missing on the road...beside those inches," she giggled.

Elias went on to talk about his day and other general things going on backstage. He yawned. "You sound sleepy."

"So do you," she replied with her eyes closed.

"I'm going to let you go so I can let myself go," he said. "I love you."

"I love you too, Jeffrey," she slid the phone away from her ear.

Just as she was drifting off her door swung open. "Yes Sadie?"

Sadie closed and locked the door before moving to sit on the bed. "I have something to tell you."

Her tone sounded serious so Della sat up against the headboard to give her full attention. "What?"

"Jeffrey just texted me," Sadie said holding her phone.

"About what?"

"The message started suspicious with him telling me not to tell you that he contacted me. Then he said that you and Marina would be out of town tomorrow and he was wondering if he could pick me up for a few hours but I declined because I'm loyal," Sadie leaned in to speak quietly. "However, your so called best friend is not! I was going to mind my business but he's picked her up without your knowledge on two separate occasions. All the women in Orlando, in the different towns that Raw tours and not to mention all the women on the roster to cheat with and he picks her? He should be ashamed of himself. Marianna too. Now he's trying to get me! Here I thought he was the last good man WWE had to offer. Do we look like the Spice Girls to him? _If you want to be my lover you gotta get with my friends._ "

"Thank you Sadie. I really appreciate you for coming to me with this information. You are _definitely_ loyal. I'll handle it," Della attempted to stifle her laughter at Sadie's misunderstanding. That was funny but it alarmed her when she realized that Elias was serious about this ring shopping business.


	14. Chapter 14

**The Big Dog is back therefore this story is back.**

* * *

As much as Roman enjoyed the time at home being a father and husband, it felt great to be back amongst people he thought of as a second family. He was being pulled in several different directions once he arrived backstage. He was greeted by tears and hugs. He was also filled in on the goings on in his absence – the good, the bad and the ugly.

A lot of people were trying to get the news out of him but just like last time, he'd share it in the ring. There was something noticeably missing backstage though, _someone_ rather. He'd never forget the sad expression on her face that night in October even after she tried to smile through the tears. Although he browsed her Instagram account, it would've been nice to see her in the flesh. He thought about her few times which was a good indication that deep down he still cared but he had zero interest in picking up where they left off. The very thought of restarting the affair especially after what he'd just gone through brought on a dark cloud of turbulent feelings that made him sick to his stomach. He could've been taken away from the family that he took for granted during that time in his life. If nothing else, his leukemia returning made him take a long look at himself and caused a significant change in him for the better. Still, he wouldn't mind having her as a friend, if possible. The text exchange that he initiated was the first step.

"Sorry to hear about Sarah…" Roman said to Seth regarding their recent breakup.

"Yeah, I kind of saw it coming from a mile away but it wasn't a bad breakup so we're on good terms," Seth replied.

"What happened with you and Marina?"

"As you know all too well she's crazy. Seriously though, I think she lost interest," he shrugged. "The backstage environment being depressed for weeks after you left didn't help. A lot of stuff just fell apart including our thing. I miss her though, both of them."

"Me too," Roman nodded.

"You know Elias is getting really serious with Della…"

"I wish them luck," Roman replied quickly. "I can't concern myself with what she has going on romantically."

"Good for you, man," Seth gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I'll catch up with you later."

Roman wandered around backstage until the moment of truth was upon him. Elias had his back turned, stretching before turning around. His eyes widened and he blinked when he saw Roman standing there.

"Uh, hey," Elias extended his hand and Roman took it. "It's…great to see you back."

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Roman began. "I know that-"

"Where is he?" Roman heard Vince's voice. He looked down at his Rolex and it was time for the show to start. Vince came into view wearing a headset. "There you are."

"I'll catch up with you later," Roman said to Elias before walking away.

Roman was nervous about going out there. He didn't know how the crowd would respond to him. He didn't think it would be negative but the love he received was overwhelming. He felt overcome with emotion as he hugged his sister and mom.

* * *

 **Elias**

' _I'm in remission, y'all!'_

Just like that, Roman was back. Elias' ears were still ringing from the locker room shouting for joy in his ear at the announcement.

Roman finally made it back to the locker room and seemed to be discussing surviving cancer a second time, making life changes and dabbling into acting. He seemed really humble and gracious. Elias had to admit, Roman was not only cool but someone to be admired. Roman being married made it questionable but in no way did he think of Roman as a bad person because of his previous relationship with Della. If it wasn't Roman, it would've been someone else because unless you're dating a virgin, everyone had an ex-lover. He rarely brought Roman up but when he did, Della didn't like talking about him which led him to believe that she was not entirely over him but that was something he could live with because he was secure enough in their relationship to believe that she was fully committed to him and that Roman was not a threat to what they had.

He grabbed his guitar and headed to the ring for his segment. He went out and was interrupted by Lacey and then Dean. Dean hit him with Dirty Deeds and Elias made his way into gorilla.

"Don't get too comfortable in the locker room because you're going back out later," Vince told him as he walked by.

"Which segment?"

"Ambrose vs McIntyre. McIntyre, Corbin and Lashley have an alliance going and you're going to assist."

At least this was something. He consistently got some of the biggest reactions but his segments end the same week in and week out. When he is given something to do it doesn't build to anything therefore it was pointless.

Later, Elias went out to attack Dean Ambrose as instructed with Lashley, McIntyre and Corbin. Rollins came out and to the surprise of Elias, Roman's theme hit. He knew Roman was back but he didn't expect to see him in the ring so soon.

When the show was over, Roman was one of the first men out of the locker room so Elias figured he'd abandoned whatever he had to gathered his bags and moved out as well.

"Elias!" he heard Roman's voice and heavy footsteps approaching him from behind. Elias turned around to face him. "I meant to come to you sooner but obviously this was a busy night for me."

"Yeah, you're probably more popular than Naitch on his own birthday backstage tonight," Elias acknowledge with a nod.

Roman opened his mouth to speak but one of the backstage personnel staff walked by and he waited until she was out of range. "I just wanted to clear the air so things won't become awkward now that I'm back. Delesia told me that you know about us."

Elias raised a brow. He didn't let her know that he knew about their affair until the night of Roman's announcement. She never once mentioned speaking to Roman during his absence. "When did she tell you this?"

"Oh, uh…" Roman hesitated, leading Elias to believe that he was trying to formulate a lie. "It was months ago. The point is, that's all behind us and I'm happy to see that she's moved on."

Elias' skin crawled every time Roman said ' _us.'_ He'd been with Della since early October so after 4 months of being by her side, he didn't need Roman to tell him that it was behind them. He knew that Roman probably meant well but it was still unsettling.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" Roman questioned.

"One doctor said May, another said June, her physical therapist said by April so naturally she's going with April but I don't think so," Elias sighed. "She's so-"

Roman chuckled, putting his hand up to silence him. "Say no more, I know how she is."

Once again, Elias knew Roman probably didn't mean anything by it but he still felt his eye twitching. "Can I ask you something now that we're on the subject."

"Go ahead."

"Do you still have feeling for her?"

Roman was quiet for a moment, not realizing that his initial silence spoke volumes to Elias. "I'll always care about her but as for romantic interest, no."

"That's fair enough as long as you know she's _mine_ now and the past is the past," he said firmly but not threateningly because this guy was more than likely going to pick up where he left off as locker room leader. _Locker room leader,_ a realization hit him, that time Roman chastised him about the rumor going around about Della, they were lovers then.

"Agreed," Roman nodded, extending his hand for Elias to shake before going their separate ways.

 _Ding._

 **Stoney: Who said crutches couldn't be sexy?**

His eyes widened at the naked bathroom mirror selfie on crutches that he just received. He was surprised at how hard he fell for Della. He felt good about it and it made him happy to see her happy especially because he was giving her something that Roman, a married man, never could and that was an actual relationship. They were really great together and their relationship had serious potential, serious enough that he was already ring shopping. He spent a considerable amount of time thinking about marriage. The idea was becoming increasingly attractive to him especially with Marina in his ear cosigning the idea. Why not get married? Due to Della being a fellow WWE performer, it made things much easier than his past relationships where his girlfriends didn't understand or care about the business and would complain about him being on the road all the time. That coupled with their sexual chemistry and mutual enjoyment of each other's company, they might indeed make a good Mr. and Mrs.

He immediately called her.

"Hello?" she answered.

"When I walk through the door tomorrow morning, I want you to greet me just like that," he requested.

"You got it, babe," she said before clearing her throat. "So, how was backstage tonight?"

Elias sighed. "Stoney, you know exactly how backstage was tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you don't have to beat around the bush. You two had a thing and I'm sure you have an interest in what went down tonight. Roman is back and trust me, we were all happy to see him. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes, but I didn't know how to ask directly without it being awkward…" she admitted.

" _Awkward_ , that must be the word of the night," he stated.

"Huh?"

"He approached me tonight to make sure that he and I were alright to prevent things from being awkward," Elias revealed.

" _Oh_. How did you feel about that?" she hesitantly asked.

"Honestly, I respected it. An asshole wouldn't have addressed it at all but he came to me like a man and we had a man to man discussion. I'm not saying we're going to be become bros and go out to the bars drinking together after shows but he's okay in my book, _for now_."

"That's great. I'm not going to lie, I was always worried about how you would react when he returned. I didn't expect you to act out or anything but it was always a question mark in the back of my mind. What else is going on? I saw that you were kind of in the midst of things tonight. Will the four of you be a thing now or was it a one night only deal."

"We'll have to wait until next Monday or at least the house show this weekend to find out. Who cares really because we all know it's not going to amount to anything and I'll be back to guitar strum, '' _Hello, I am Elias_ ,' repeating, ' _WWE stands for what?_ ' three times and then an interruption. I've never had a genuine feud therefore I've never had a genuine win," he said. "I hate to say it but if they haven't pushed me or hardly anyone else while 'The Guy' was gone, I don't see them pushing us now that he's back."

"Jeffrey, you are so fucking talented. You're built like a tank, you're solid in the ring and you have amazing control over the crowd. What you're doing now is cool but yes, you have so much more to offer and I'm sure everyone knows it."

Another thing he loved about her was the encouragement she gave. "Thanks, Stoney."

"Also, I think you should speak up for yourself to management. I've been in this business for a very long time and I find that the people up top will respect you more. It's a sign of complacency when you aren't invested in your role enough to want to grow. I'm not saying kick Vince's office door in and demand a feud or anything but you have to show that you want it. I'm sitting at home right now but that's not stopping me from playing chess with my position. I signed a one year contract because I wasn't sure if I'd like it in WWE or not. My contract expires next month so I've been liking AEW crap on Twitter and Instagram as a scare tactic to scam the company up into giving me a better offer and a push when I return. Naturally, dirt sheets are writing headlines like, ' _Della Stone interested in AEW?'_ It's working because Hunter randomly called yesterday to tell me that he hasn't forgotten about me and that he was going to be down at the Performance Center soon so we could talk about my new deal."

"I'll keep that in mind…." he said, wondering if he should confront her or not. He decided to just do it. "Oh yeah, you know I told you about the talk I had with Roman earlier. I was kind of surprised when he approached me because to my knowledge he wasn't aware that I knew so I guess that means you've spoken to him?"

"It was like 3 weeks ago via a brief text exchange. I didn't think it was significant because we didn't really talk about anything worth mentioning. I still have the messages in my phone if you want to read them when you get here tomorrow."

Her keeping the messages was a good sign. Most people would've destroyed the evidence if they were having a secret conversation with their ex. Something that struck him as strange though was Roman saying that it was months ago and Della saying it was 3 weeks ago. He was more inclined to believe her since she was willing to show messages backing it up. Why did Roman lie about something so small. It made him look guilty of something which Elias felt was problematic.

Elias sighed. "You don't have to show them to me. I trust you. He was your ex who suddenly came down with a life threatening illness. If you weren't concerned about him you wouldn't be human so I understand you checking in with him. But moving forward, please don't leave me in the dark."

"Sure thing. It won't be happening again because we really don't have anything to talk about now that I know he's okay."

"Alight, I'm about to head to the hotel and I'll call you again before I go to sleep. I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she replied, making a kiss sound in the phone.

* * *

Della immediately pulled up her text exchange with Roman. Elias said he didn't want to see it but she wasn't going to take a chance in case he changed his mind. She deleted any message that she deemed inappropriate such as asking Roman to post a selfie, messages about the proposal and anything about her relationship with Elias. Upon second inspection, it read like a casual conversation. She loved Elias too much to risk losing him.

Her doorbell rang and she grabbed her crutches. It took her awhile to make it across the room so the doorbell was pressed impatiently over and over again.

"Bitch, I'm on crutches, I'll get there when I get there!" she yelled. A few more steps and she was swinging the door open. "Hey."

"Hi!" Marina greeted, brushing by her to enter.

"Where's Sadie?"

"I don't know," Marina shrugged, plopping down on the sofa. "I've been side-eying her ever since she confronted me about sleeping with Jeffrey behind your back. _The nerve_."

Della laughed. "I guess I wasn't moving quick enough on the situation for her so she decided to take matters into her own hands. What brings you here."

"It's been awhile since I visited the Delias house and decided to drop by."

"You aren't missing anything but quiet, so much quiet. Jeffrey thinks I should foster a couple pets to keep me company until I'm back on the road."

"You're welcome to come foster Sadie's two annoying Pomeranians. They used to be so cute when I only saw them 3 days a week…and I think the same can be applied to her now," Marina rolled her eyes.

"You can't get mad at her for trying to be a good friend even if she was way off base."

"Says who?" Marina raised a brow. "Anyway, what did you think of the show tonight, a particular segment especially?"

"You already know that I cried like a baby," Della replied. She had a feeling that the news would be good but to hear him say it was like a weight lifted off of her shoulders. She was so happy for him and wished she was there tonight to tell him. "So I'm mad at him right now."

"Already? What did he do?"

"He opened his big mouth to Jeffrey about a talk we had recently."

"What?" Marina's head snapped. "How recent?"

"Like 3 weeks ago…"

Marina sunk back into the sofa and huffed. "I would drag and read you right now but I don't have the energy because I went back to the gym for the first time today. All I'm going to say is that you have something special with Jeffrey so don't mess it up falling back into the Joe trap."

"I'm not interested in falling in any trap!" she defended herself. "I can't believe him. I never posed a threat to his marriage. I stood face to face with Galina and never once said or did anything suspicious but the first thing he does when he sees Jeffrey is spill unnecessary tea. I'd call and let him know right now how pissed I am but I saw his family ringside and I don't know if they're still with him or not."

"You'd really tell him off on his comeback night? That's harsh. I love it! It's going to feel so good being mean to him again. I can't wait to get back," Marina squealed, kicking her legs in the air with excitement.

"I totally would. At the end of the day he has a wife and three children to go home to. If Jeffrey was one of those super angry, possessive and insecure guys he probably would've broken up with me over this and I'd have nothing."

"Except your money, career, talent, good looks, family, our house to come back to if he kicked you out of this one and best friend but yeah, I get your point. Joe's relationship is officially secure now that you're out of the picture and you don't want him fucking up you shit."

"Precisely and the next time we run into each other I'm going to make him understand that," Della declared.

"Imagine the relationship ending with Jeffrey saying, ' _I was planning on marrying you and I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for that meddling Roman Reigns_! By the way, he's picking me up tomorrow around 4 to go ring shopping again in case you want to interfere with his schedule again. What are you going to do this week to throw him off track?"

"I guess I'll have to spike his food with Viagra at 3 tomorrow to keep him busy for the next few hours and Wednesday you'll tell him that you have other plans," she snorted. "Can we talk about how fine Joe looked tonight?"

"No, no we can not! You can't say, 'screw him for talking to my boyfriend' in one breath and 'he's so fine, I miss his dick' in the next breath," Marina gagged.

"I didn't say or think anything about his dick…"

" _Yet_ but you will if I don't watch you. Do you still love him?"

"I probably always will because of our bond but that doesn't matter because Jeffrey has made me happier than Joe ever could confined to hotel rooms. As the old saying goes, if walls could talk," she shook her head. Marina's phone dinged and Della noticed that she rolled her eyes at the screen. "What?"

"Seth just texted me."

"What did he say?"

" _Hey_ ," Marina read looking disgusted.

Della blinked waiting for Marina to continue. "T-that's it?"

"That's enough especially when he knows that I don't want to talk to him," she scoffed. I still can't get over Sarah releasing a formal statement about their breakup on Twitter. Bitch, you two were not some power couple where a split would warrant press release. Just unfollow and delete all of his pictures like a normal person!"

"Can't wait to see who his next skinny brunette victim will be."

"It sure won't be this one," Marina pointed to herself.

Della's phone vibrated in her lap and she smiled. _Jeffrey._ "That's my man."


	15. Chapter 15

"You better have a damn good reason for making us skip the hall of fame," Della rode the elevator down with Elias still dressed in her gown. Her dress had a split in it and you could see a black thigh compression wrap around her torn hamstring. She was 80% healed and was just happy to not be on crutches anymore.

"Oh I do," Elias winked, smiling to himself. She saw his guitar slung over his shoulder.

 **Della: Is he doing it tonight?**

 **Marina: Not that I know of.**

 **Della: Are you sure?**

 **Marina: His jeans are tight af. If he had a ring in those pockets you'd know.**

Elias led them to a bar. His appearance was unadvertised so the crowd full of fans were excited to see him. He went on stage and they found a place right up front.

He opened with his signature guitar strum. "Hello, I am Elias and I'm going to start things differently tonight by taking the time to acknowledge my beautiful girlfriend, Della Stone right there. Remember her?"

"Yeah, she's a much better wrestler than you!" a heckler yelled.

"I know, believe me she doesn't let me forget it. It was this time last year during Wrestlemania weekend in a bar similar to this one down in New Orleans that I met her and my life changed forever," he said and the crowd responded with awws. "Don't aww yet because it didn't happen then or the next day or the next day or the next day or the day after that but when it happened we both knew it was special and we've been making sweet music ever since. I love you, Stoney."

"Get up there," Marina shoved her forward.

Della climbed on stage and leaned over Elias where he sat on the stool to kiss him. "I love you, too, Jef...I mean, _Elias_."

Elias nodded his head at the guy behind the DJ booth and he brought Della a microphone.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"This," Elias began playing the opening guitar line of Shallow.

"Please no!" she tried to walk offstage but fans blocked her. "Really?"

Elias began his verse. " _Tell me something girl, are you happy in this modern world? Or do you need more? Is there something else you're searching for? I'm fallin'. In all the good times I find myself longing for a change. And in the bad times I fear myself."_

It didn't look like she was getting off stage anytime soon. Sighing, she put the mic to her lips. " _Tell me something boy. Aren't you tired tryin to fill that void? Or do you need more? Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore? I'm falling. In all the good times I find myself longing for a change. And in the bad times I fear myself. I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in I'll never meet the ground. Crash through the surface where they can't hurt us we're far from the shallow now."_

He joined her. " _In the shallow, shallow. In the shallow, shallow. In the shallow, shallow. We're far from the shallow now."_

"Okay, I'm done," she dropped her mic.

"The song isn't over yet," he replied.

"It is as far as I'm concerned. I don't have Gaga's pipes to carry the last chorus and I refuse to let a video of my voice cracking go viral. Sorry, babe," she laughed.

"Alright, alright. Let's get back on track," Elias said. "What does WWE stand for?"

"Walk with Elias!" the crowd yelled back.

Della reached out her hand to Marina for help off stage. "For a moment there I thought he was going to propose."

"That was probably his dress rehearsal for Sunday night. From what he tells me that's still a go and he wanted me to make sure you wore something nice to the arena," Marina informed.

"Ugh," she groaned in reply.

"If your plan to discourage the engagement didn't work in all this time you might as well let it happen," Marina shrugged. "It's clear that you love the guy."

"I know but...let's go over to the bar and have a few drinks while he's doing his set," she suggested.

Marina took a sip of her drink before scrolling through Twitter. "We have an entire year to find Hall of Fame gowns yet some of us and the WAGs still show up looking tacky in borderline clubwear and thrift store shit. We should've went for the sole purpose of setting the standards high for next year."

"Let me guess, Kim Orton?"

"Actually, she looks decent. No high crotch splits this year," Marina noted as she browsed through red carpet pictures. "No sign of your sister-wife Galina yet. I wonder if they're coming."

"Who cares?" Della muttered.

"Who cares, huh?"

"Hmm, I'm looking at my timeline now and Becky and Seth are sitting together…"

"Who cares?" Marina scoffed.

"Who cares, huh?"

"Touché, fucking _touché,_ Marina laughed.

Elias rapidly pushed the button to call the elevator. "Maybe I'm just impatient but it's been at least 5 minutes now."

"Lies, it's been less than 3. Here it comes," Della replied, watching the numbers. It opened and they all walked in. "I still can't get over what happened to Bret."

"Right? Who attacks an elderly cancer survivor?" Marina slurred, clearly drunk.

The doors of the elevator were slowly closing when a tattooed arm reached out and stopped it. Della froze when Roman entered. He stopped in his tracks when he made eye contact with her. She wanted to drop dead when Galina entered behind him and bumped into his back. Shaking himself out of the trance, he moved forward so Galina could fit. He was dressed in his Jordan sweatpants and G was wearing jeans and a blouse.

Galina looked at her. "Hey, I remember you. Your name is uh, uhm…"

"Della.."

"Sorry, it's been a while," Galina replied.

"It has," Della nodded. "You look great."

"So do you," Galina complimented.

Roman cleared his throat and turned to Elias. "What was that at the hall of fame? I did media from sun up to sun down yesterday so I was too tired to attend. I was starting to regret it until I heard about that shit."

"I have no idea. I've only seen clips. The guy got fucked up pretty bad though I hear. We decided to skip it at the last minute. That's why they're wearing dresses," Elias linked his arm with Della and smiled down at her. Feeling awkward, she couldn't look up at Roman.

"How long have you two been together?" Galina asked.

"Since early October," Della answered.

"But forever in my mind," Elias added. Della wanted to cringe. He was laying it on pretty thick.

"Hey, I didn't notice you back there," Galina turned her head to look at Marina. "I remember you, too."

"Yeah, well I noticed you...and the other you. Both of you look great. Don't mind me I'm drunk and seeing double," Marina laughed at herself.

"This is us!" Roman said when the elevator dinged. He stepped forward and ushered Galina out with him. He couldn't get away fast enough.

Elias turned to her when the elevator closed. "Wait, you and the wife actually know each other?"

"Yep," Marina answered for him. "Thank God she's changed her scandalous ways."

"It's not a situation where I went out of my way to meet her as an ego trip...some mistresses actually do this. He brought her backstage at a talk show taping and we met. I felt horrible because she's so nice," Della explained.

"Well the past is the past," Elias replied, as the elevator opened on their floor.

"Now what?" Marina staggered off.

"Now you go sleep it off while we go to our room," Della directed Marina to her room across the hall from them.

"Soo…?" Elias asked when they were in their room.

"Soo, what?" Della reached behind herself to unzip her dress.

"We're just not going to talk about that?" he questioned.

"I thought you said the past is the past?" she grumbled.

"Yeah, it is but that's your ex who you haven't seen in months due to a life threatening illness and your only reaction is nonchalance? I'm sorry but I can't help but think it would've been different if me and the wife weren't standing there…."

"Can we not please?" she responded irritably.

"Why? I don't know where you stand because you never want to talk about it. It's time to clear the air."

"I stand with you and what's there to talk about? Joe and I had a thing and it's over. He was special to me and I loved him but I no longer have those feelings for him because they're reserved for you and that's all you need to know! I'm yours for as long as you want me and I don't plan on going anywhere. So if we're done with this I'm going to go shower. You can join me if you want," she replied, dropping her dress. She was braless wearing only a pair of thongs and heels.

Elias perked up at the sight. "I hate that cheap hotel soap. Let me grab my body wash out of my bag."

When he unzipped the bag he cursed and immediately closed it. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," he stuttered, tossing the bag aside.

"Jeffrey, are you sure?" she tilted her head suspiciously. She already knew what it was and this may be her last chance to interfere. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing! Let's go," standing, he pushed her into the bathroom.

"But, what about your body wash?" she innocently asked.

"I'll just use yours," he removed his shirt.

"You want to smell like pomegranate & lemon verbena?" she read the label on her bottle.

"I smell like it anyway half the time by contact thanks to you."

"Well, alright," she shrugged, unstrapping her heels and kicking them off.

Elias stepped into the shower first. The water cascaded off of his iron hard pecs and hairy chest.

"Good God you're hot," she admired his wide shoulders and his muscular arms.

"Let's make it hotter," he reached out his hand and pulled her inside.

Pressing her back against the shower wall, Elias thrust inside of her until he was buried. He started with slow strokes, taking himself out before plunging back in. She kissed his neck as he thrust into her coming back to his mouth so that their tongues danced until he began to pick up the pace. He was practically bouncing her and she whimpered, scared they'd slip and fall which she didn't need now that she was on the road to recovery.

He rolled his hips forward and she began to cry out. Finally, she gripped his biceps and threw her head back against the wall. He himself following soon after.

They stayed there for a long moment, holding tightly onto each other before he silently let her go, allowing her to slide down the wall as he slipped out of her.

"Okay, now we can actually shower," he laughed, stepping under the showerhead.

"Oh, I need to get my shampoo and conditioner," Della stepped out of the shower not bothering to grab a towel. She walked into the room, shivering when the cold air hit her. She dug around in her bag for her hair supplies. When she turned around, Elias was standing naked in the doorway with a nervous expression on his face. His eyes darted from her to his bag on the other side of the room. Without thinking, she made a run for it but he was right on her tail.

She grabbed it and he snatched the other end. They became engaged in a tug of war that he of course was getting the better of. She raised her foot threateningly and aimed it at his penis. "I'm sure this would hurt clothed but naked and wet? _Yikes_!"

"That's just evil. You don't play fair," Elias quickly dropped his end. He brought his hands together in a pleading motion. "Stoney, please!"

"Begging? I _have_ to look now," she unzipped the bag and right on top was a ring box. "What's this?"

He sighed. "You have it in your hand, you might as well finish the job."

Della gasped and it wasn't acting like the rest of it. She was legitimately taken aback at the sight of the huge, emerald cut diamond with smaller diamonds framing it. "Jeffrey, i-is this what I think it is?"

Elias rubbed the back of his neck. "I was going to wait until Sunday but yeah, it's an engagement ring?"

Della's brow shot up. "Engagement? Already? Don't you think it's a little too soon?"

"No. I knew from the moment we began playing cat and mouse a year ago that this would be the outcome. I thought you'd be jumping for joy right now…"

"Jeffrey, I want marriage, children, a dog, a white picket fence, Marina as my neighbor and all of that but I just don't think it's the right time. When would I have time to plan a wedding, scout venues, try on dresses? I don't want to get married just to go right back on the road without a proper honeymoon. I'm still out on the sidelines now so I'm not taking off again for a while after this. I want you to know that this isn't a no, it's a not right now. So if you ask me the question…" she trailed off prompting him.

"Will you marry me?"

"The answer will be yes...in the future," she slid the ring on her finger. "I love it but I want you to hold on to it until the time is right. I hope you aren't upset."

"No, I'm not. I'm actually excited because this begins a new chapter in our new cat and mouse game," he smiled. "You won't believe this but Marina helped me through the ring shopping process."

"What? That bitch knew and didn't tell me? Not even a slip up during her binge drinking session tonight?" Della's mouth dropped. Her performance tonight deserved an Oscar.

"Looks like we have to change my act tomorrow because that's where it was supposed to go down," he picked up his phone and began texting Vince.

* * *

 **The Raw after Wrestlemania**

"I'm nervous? Do you think they'll care?" Della asked.

"What the hell? They literally tweet you all day, everyday asking for an estimated return date," Marina encouraged.

"Well, okay," Della took a deep, nervous breath before getting into character.

In a backstage segment, Charly approached the two with a mic. "It's nice to see you two after months of absence due to injuries. A lot has changed since you've been gone. What are you thoughts on the state of the division?"

"What division?" Della asked. "For the last few months, there has only been Becky, Charlotte and Ronda. Congrats on making history but it came at the expense of the rest of the women. I'm actually happy that I was home because I would be damned if my talent got wasted sitting in catering like the rest of the complacent roster."

"That's right. I've been medically cleared for weeks now but I wasn't participating in that pathetic battle royal. What do I look like making my return in the ' _shut up and take what you can get'_ pre-show match?" Marina added. "Now, let's talk about straight fire crotch…"

"Ah yes, Becky Lynch," Della started. "Becky may be 'The Man' but she spews a lot of 'I'm every woman' propaganda. ' _This is for ALL the women in the back. I'm doing this for ALL of you. This is what WE have been dreaming about.'_ What a joke. How dare she say this when she's been brand hopping for months, taking TV time from both divisions. She's just as bad as she claims Charlotte is at this point. Everything about her is insufferable. Basically, she's a caricature of what a 14 year old boy would describe as a badass."

"Wow, okay," Charly replied. "Marina is clear but I notice you're still wearing a thigh wrap, can you update us on your condition?"

"Yes, I'm excited to announce that I will be medically cleared on May 15th, right in time for Money in the Bank in May 19th. I'm also excited to announce myself as the first participant," she said and even though they were backstage she could here the pop for her announcement. "I'm not just participating, I'm taking that briefcase home with me. So, I don't care who is holding the title whether it's Becky, Lacey, Charlotte or Ronda. I'm going to be the dark cloud slowly looming over them waiting for the right moment to rain on their championship parade."

"Thank you, ladies," Charly finished the segment.

"Fire crotch?" Seth scoffed. "Real mature, Marina."

"Bite me," Marina hissed back in return.

"No thanks. I'm sure it tastes bitter," he shot back.

"Up until a week or two ago you were still sending unreturned calls and unrequited texts to me. I'm sure you're far more bitter than I am. ' _I know you miss this.'_ Anyone with access to Google knows I'm not missing much," she smiled and he stormed off.

"That was mean. Leave him alone," Della laughed. "My man just wrestled The Undertaker."

"More like squashed by The Undertaker but okay," Marina snorted.

"To even stand in the ring with The Undertaker is an honor so it's an accomplishment nonetheless and he deserves to be congratulated," she winked before walking away.

On her way, she ran into him. She paused her steps, not knowing how to react. He probably would try to steer clear of her especially after that awkward elevator encounter.

No sooner than she thought that, his head turned. His eyes lit up when he saw her. "Hey, you."

"Hey!" Della extended her hand to greet him, but he closed the distance between them and hugged her. She froze in the hold at first but quickly she relaxed, sliding her hands around his lower back bringing herself closer to him. She buried her nose in his shirt to inhale. It was great to smell his scent, hear his voice, feel his presence. Just a few short months ago, she thought there was a chance she'd never see him again. The thought brought tears to her eyes. "I'm so glad you're back."

"I'm so glad to be back," he replied, circling his arms around her waist. "I missed you, D."

"I missed you too, Joe. I'm so happy to see you. You look great. Just so you know I'm resisting the urge to slap you right now," she pulled back.

"Slap me? Why?" his brows knitted.

Smiling, she was about to scold him for speaking to Elias until she looked to her left and saw him standing on the other side of the area. He shook his head before walking off. "Because of that…"

"I have to go," she sprinted off before realizing that she still wasn't 100%. Hissing, she slowly followed his path to a secluded area backstage "Jeffrey!"

"I'm surprised you didn't call me Joe," he snapped venomously. "I was right about your lack of reaction to him in the elevator. You couldn't wait to get out of my sight with him. I guess this is why you didn't want the proposal to happen."

"Jeffrey, no! Why would I base my decision on him? Besides, he's married himself so if he really wanted me why would he care if I got engaged?" that...did not come out right.

"He probably wouldn't care but _you_ should!"

"Babe, I do care. You don't have anything to worry about when it comes to Joe. It's like I told you the other day, I don't have those feelings for him anymore. It's done. _Done._ "

"If it weren't for his leukemia coming back would it be done. _Done_?"

"No, we were done in Australia the night before the show," she replied.

"Wait, the night before the show _we_ were together?! I guess that's why you ran out of my bed that night, huh? To go to him," he stared at her in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter. We fought anyway. Remember his face being swollen the next day? That was me," she revealed.

"So if you two didn't have that fight you probably wouldn't have gotten with me because you two would still be on good terms aka sneaking around? I'm basically the rebound. Wow," he blinked.

"Are we really doing this? It's funny because just a few weeks ago, Marina was commending you for not being insecure about the affair…"

"Insecure? I catch my girlfriend, _who I thought would be my fiancée right now_ , hugged up with her ex who clearly doesn't care about relationship status, _especially his own_ , and I'm not supposed to react? Was I supposed to look the other way, no questions asked in order to not come across as insecure?"

"You didn't _catch_ me doing anything? If we were hiding in a dark abandoned area like this hugging you'd have a point. We were standing out in the open and he hugged me just like he's hugged every other woman on the night he returned," she argued.

"Yeah, but the difference is...every other woman wasn't _fucking_ him! You were smiling ear to ear to see your former lover but had the blankest expression I've ever seen on your face when you found the ring box. You are one cold…" he trailed off.

"No, finish that sentence. Cold what? _Bitch?_ "

He tilted his head. "I was going to say piece of work. Do you really think I'd call you a bitch? Unlike Joe, I respect my significant other."

Della scoffed. "You don't have to go there. I'm about to go back to the hotel but not our room and when we get back to Orlando, if you want to reach me you can contact me by phone or at Marina and Sadie's house."

"Marina and Sadie's house? Why?"

"To give you space and time to sit back and reflect on this moment. I know what I did all those months ago was wrong and I finally started to forgive myself. I don't need my boyfriend throwing it in my face right now. If you don't trust him, that's fine but if you love me enough to want to get married, you should trust me. Do you understand?"

"Stoney, you're right and I'm sorry," he sighed.

"I bet you are _now_ ," she replied, turning around. "Oh, and congrats on the Taker match, asshole."

* * *

 **Elias: Come to my room.**

 **Elias: Please?**

 **Elias: Babe?!**

 **Elias: Stoney?**

 **Elias: D?**

 **Elias: Delesia? I'm sure you'll come for this one because it's what HE calls you.**

 **Della: Actually, I was slipping my shoes on by 'Please?' but you just fucked it up once again by throwing that in my face.**

"You're still trending 2 hours after the show ended…" Marina said, scrolling on her phone.

"Oh yeah? I'm glad I was able to contribute something. My poor fans were going through withdrawals without me," she laughed.

"Yeah. By the way, why are you here and not across the hall with Jeffrey? That time of the month?"

"So earlier tonight…" she began but was interrupted by a ding. "Hold on, this is probably him again."

 **Joe: Your boy just got off the elevator while i was getting on and looks like he's headed toward the hotel bar.**

 **Della: Did he say anything to u?**

 **Joe: Nothing, at all.**

 **Della: Wow, he moves fast. He literally just texted asking me to come to his room.**

 **Joe: So you're not in his room?**

 **Della: No, I'm in here with Marina.**

 **Joe: Room?**

 **Della: 784**

It wasn't too long before she heard a knock.

"Who is that? Jeff?" Marina walked out of the bathroom wearing a white cream face mask.

"Uh…" she replied before opening the door.

"No!" Marina shook her head. "I know you two aren't about to start this shit again?! Oh and friendly reminder, the last time the three of us were in a hotel room together, it ended with him calling me a bitch and me slapping his face off."

"I remember," he hissed in pain as if she did it again. "But I'm just here to talk."

"Because we're friends now and friends talk," Della nodded, sitting on the bed.

"I got you in trouble didn't I?" he asked, plopping down beside her.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Marina asked.

"Sit down, let that soak into your pores and listen," Della instructed. She turned back to Roman. "Of course you got me in trouble. What the hell do you think? If Galina found out about us and months later saw us hugging I can bet the ride home wouldn't be pleasant."

"You got that right," Joe agreed.

"That's assuming she stayed," Marina said. "I'd always say she stayed with you through poor and college fat but to find out she stayed with you through cancer adds a whole new layer of 'scumbag' to your previous scumbaggery. All joking aside you shouldn't be within 50 feet of D right now and she shouldn't have let you in."

"Della continued. "To be honest...she's right. I think it'll be best for us to keep our distance for a while. At least until Jeffrey calms down."

"I agree. The last thing I want to do is come between you and him. I'm sorry about that. I was just happy to see you after so long. We saw each other on the elevator Friday night but... _you know_ ," he emphasized.

"Yeah, _I know_."

"Wait, what kind of hug did you give each other," Marina.

"I don't know, maybe I should ask the camera crew that follows me around to rewind the footage for your viewing pleasure. Hmm, maybe we should've joined Total Divas after all," Della snorted. "All I remember is that we hugged and as if on cue I looked up and Jeffrey was standing there."

Roman raised a brow. "There are specific types and variations of hugs?"

"Obviously! There's the platonic, friendly hug. There's the half-assed hug complete with a there-there pat. And finally, there's that 'we used to have sexual relations hug. Which was it? Demonstrate," Marina requested.

Roman and Della faced each other, trying to recreate the hug as best they could.

Marina scoffed. "Your crotches are pressed together so hard they're kissing. This 'hug' looks very foreplay-ish like a standing dry hump. You two are impulsive and can't help yourselves and if that's what Jeffrey saw he had every right to be upset."

"I think you're exaggerating," Della muttered. "Sure, it's a close hug but it's not all of that."

"Oh really? Move," Marina pushed her out of the way and hug Roman. "This is you."

"Oh God…" maybe Marina had a point. The hug did look unintentionally sexual. "I bet you always wanted to do that."

"Yeah, back in 2014 before I found out he was a shameless adulterer."

"You helped set us up but whatever," Della commented under her breath. "I guess his reaction was too be expected. However, he kind of went overboard. He knew about us but so far he hadn't seen us together in the same room let alone hugged up. I think I'm going to give him a break on this one."

"Speaking of giving someone a break. Small dick jokes? Really?" Roman shook his head in disdain at Marina. "You had your chance and you fumbled the ball."

"Fumbled the ball? When I had the ball, I barely wanted it," Marina dismissed.

"Liar!" Della exclaimed. "You verbally abused him but you were definitely into him."

"That was a very fragile time in my life thanks to the antics of you two. I was more stressed out than the both of you which was sad because I wasn't the one who had anything to lose!"

All three froze and looked at each other when they heard banging on the door.

'Who?' Della asked Marina.

Marina shrugged, standing to walk over to the door. She looked through the peephole and backed away. Turning to face them again, she played an air guitar.

Della gasped in a panicked whisper, whirling around to look at Joe. This would not end well if Elias saw the source of their argument sitting here. "Maybe if we ignore him, he'll think we're sleep and leave."

Elias knocked again. "I know you're in there. I heard footsteps and one of you leaned against the door to look through the peephole."

"Shit!" she cursed. She grabbed Roman's hand and led him to the closet. He looked at her incredulously at potentially being jammed in such a small space.

"Bathroom," Marina suggested.

Della shoved him into the bathroom and closed the door. "Okay, open it."

Elias stumbled in, intoxicated. "Baby, I love you and I'm so sorry about how I acted tonight. Please come home tomorrow."

"I'll do you one better and come to our room right now so we can talk," she responded quickly trying to get out of there.

"That was easy. I'd memorized a speech on the way up just in case you said no to that," he bypassed her and headed straight to the bathroom.

"W-what are doing?" Della shrieked.

"I downed at least 12 beers in a row and it's about to blow," he pulled down his zipper.

"Can't it wait? Our room is right across the hall. Let's go!" she protested.

"I'm literally right here," he reached his hand out. Fear paralyzed her to that spot and she closed her eyes not wanting to see what came next. Soon after she heard the door knob rattling. "Locked? Is someone else here?"

Della didn't know what to say but Marina did. "Della accidentally had the lock button pushed when she walked out of there. I called the front desk and they said they were sending someone up. That was like 30 minutes ago so if I have to call again, it won't be pretty."

' _Thank you_ ,' Della mouthed. She sniffed Elias and grimaced at the scent of alcohol. Sliding her arm around his waist, she escorted him out. "Shower, _now._ "


	16. Chapter 16

_Elias pressed his ear to the door. He'd seen Della walking suspiciously with purpose to an abandoned area of the backstage arena. He trailed her from a distance. Every now and then she'd look around but he was quick, hiding around corners or WWE trunks._

" _I didn't think you'd come," Roman's voice spoke._

" _What?" Della scoffed. "Of course I came. I don't care where I am and what I'm doing, if you call, Joe, I'm coming."_

" _I missed you so much," Roman replied._

" _I missed you so much more. You don't even know," she sounded emotional when she said it. "Fuck leukemia for taking you away from me for all those months. I regret that fight we had in Australia. We would've still been together right now, no doubt."_

" _What about 'Jeffrey' or whatever you call him?"_

" _What about him?" she snapped. "I was so hoping that he stayed on Raw while we moved to Smackdown to pick up where we left off. It would've been so much easier to break up with him using the distance as an excuse. He's a good guy but he knows deep down that I'll never love him the way I love you."_

" _Galina can never excite me the way you excite me. Being at home with her and the kids was great but I missed the thrill of being with you. The danger of it turned me on. Bottom line, I can't stay away from you but I hope I get points for trying," Roman whispered._

 _Then came the unmistakable smacking sound of kissing and moaning breaths. Elias heard clothes shuffling, unbuckling and unzipping. The sound of Roman's hand slapping the flesh of her ass sounded off._

" _What would you have done if you didn't find the ring in his bag and he proposed?"_

" _I would've said yes because I'm not heartless enough to turn him down in front of thousands in the arena and millions watching at home but the wedding would've never happened, just like it won't happen now that I've cooled him down by telling him to wait," she laughed._

" _Bend over on that table right there," Roman instructed. "Yeah, just like that. Damn, look at it drip. I guess you really did miss me."_

" _From the looks of it, you really missed me too," she giggled. "Do you have a condom?"_

" _I thought you were on birth control?"_

" _I am but it'll feel weird having your dna inside of me when I go back to Jeffrey tonight after the show. I want to give him that much respect at least," she replied._

" _Fuck him! You know that was mine first and just like I reclaimed my yard, I'm about to reclaim this pu-"_

"Son of a bitch!" Elias yelled, abruptly waking from his sleep. His body was covered in a cold sweat and his breathing was frantic as he gripped the sheets.

"Jeffrey?" Della sat up. She got out of bed and went over to turn the lights on in their hotel room. He shielded himself from the brightness with his forearm. Squinting, his eyes adjusted just in time to see her concerned face hovering over him. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," he stuttered, still shaken up. "Just a bad dream."

She sat down on the bed. Apparently she noticed the wary expression he cast on her. "Wait, was I in it?"

"Unfortunately," Elias took his hand and swiped it down his face. It felt so weird, almost like his conscience took his biggest fears about this relationship and rolled it up into one evil, fucked up dream...or warning. _No_. He didn't need to be warned. He trusted her. She told him that she didn't feel that way about Roman anymore and he had to believe it. He also couldn't let her suspect his concerns.

A devilish look crossed her face. "Did I kill you or something?"

"Might as well have," he sighed.

"O...kay, don't know what that's about but there's no room for bad dreams when your future is so bright. I still can't get over that praise Vince laid on you last Tuesday," she gushed. " _Seldom do I ever put a seal of approval on any superstar.. this man is no doubt not only the future of Smackdown he is the future of the entire WWE.. he's tough, he's talented, he exudes charisma._ "

"He only said that to generate heat on me to bring Roman out without him getting booed," Elias brushed it off.

"Maybe that was the purpose but it doesn't make what he said any less true," she replied. "John Cena, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, a Vince endorsement and Roman. That's 3 legends, the boss and the face of the company back to back. Vince must think highly of you to give you those spots."

"And there's something that's been bothering me about that night. Now I've been in the ring with Roman before but there was something different about the way he stared at me and did you see that Superman punch? It was stiff as hell and the spear? Even stiffer," Elias complained.

"What?" Della tilted her head in disbelief. "He was debuting as the new face of Smackdown, of course he had to look badass while doing it so maybe that was the stare you're referring to. As for his moves it needed to look convincing. He wasn't going to go as easy on you as he did 73 year old Vince."

"I wouldn't have shared this if I knew you were going to take up for him and make excuses," Elias shook his head.

"I'm not taking up for him. I just think you're being paranoid because of the _situation._ My only advice to you is, if he hits hard, you hit harder," she said. Because of the _situation_ he had no other choice but to be paranoid. Contrary to what Dream Della said, he wished Roman was sent to Smackdown while they remained on Raw. That way their only encounters with him would've been at pay per views.

"Forget it," Elias yawned. "I'm tired. Let's just go back to sleep."

"What time is it anyway?" she dug under her pillow and pulled out her phone. "2:38 AM."

Della climbed out of bed and walked over to the light switch. Elias watched as her naked ass swayed with each step. He sat up. "You know on second thought, I'm not _that_ tired."

"I'm sure you aren't," laughing, she turned off the lights.

* * *

Even though, Della still wasn't medically cleared yet, Triple H thought it would be a good idea for her to show her face now that she was booked for Money in the Bank.

Marina was in conversation with a member of the creative team so Della wandered off, seeking catering. She wasn't surprised at all to see Roman in his sweatpants. At first she didn't know how to feel about being drafted to Smackdown but because of the Fox move and the billion dollar deal, there were going to be big plans for the brand. Roman's presence only solidified that.

"What's up, Mr. Reigns," she spoke casually, extending her hand. He barely shook it before quickly letting go. "What kind of handshake was that?"

"The same kind of handshake your boyfriend gave me today when we crossed paths in the locker room. I'm just paying it forward," he laughed.

"Don't laugh," she replied. "He was really upset and what's this about you stiffing him?"

"What?" Roman's brows knitted.

"Yeah, that's what he said and I watched it again this morning and you kinda did and you looked at him crazy so maybe that's why he reacted that way to you…"

"Nah, if I stiffed him, he'd know it," he said and Della's brows rose.

"Oh, what a big man you are," she mocked.

"Yeah, but you already knew that," he winked.

Della blushed. She couldn't tell if he was being flirty or just being cocky. She regained her composure and ignored the flutter in the pit of her stomach. "You are really feeling yourself today, aren't you? I have to go but let me leave you with this: next time you're in the ring with my man, watch yourself or you'll have to deal with me."

"Duly noted," he nodded.

Della met up with Marina in the hallway. "What was that about?"

"I'm going to be working my ring rust off tonight," Marina revealed.

"Against who?"

"Charlotte."

"Oh wow!"

"I know right. I've never faced her so this should be interesting," Marina replied.

The locker room was packed but half belonged in a tag team: Iconiics, Mandy and Sonya, Kairi and Asuka with Paige, leaving the Smackdown title to single competitors: Charlotte, Carmella, Ember, Bayley, Mickie, Liv. In Della's opinion, besides Charlotte, the competition for her to move up the ranks wasn't stiff at all.

Marina dressed in her sparkly, silver leotard with matching kneepads and boots just as the show was starting. "Wow, Jeffrey is actually continuing a feud instead of going on like he usually does as if the previous week never happened?"

"He woke up from a bad dream last night and has been acting super weird ever since," Della replied. She dressed in a black romper short enough to show butt cheekage.

"What was it about?"

Della shrugged. "I don't know. That's where you come in. Can you talk to him?"

"Absolutely not. I'm sick of getting into your relationship business. Last year's saga was enough. For all you know he probably dreamed about walking in on you and R…" Marina trailed off when she remembered they were in the lockerroom surrounded by ears. "... _you know who_."

"I highly doubt it," Della snorted.

Becky and Charlotte were in the ring having their face off and were set to have another match at MITB. Della and Marina were given their cue as Marina's theme hit.

"Welcome to Smackdown Live, Marina," Della spoke into the mic.

"We were here before though," Marina replied.

"Yeah, briefly but a lot has changed since then," Della noted.

"Yes, for one, the Iconiics are running from the brand to brand losing wearing titles that we helped build around their waist," Marina pointed out. " _Pathetic_ but we'll let Kairi and Asuka handle that because Team B&B is taking a hiatus from the tag division which is why I'm also announcing my entry into the Money In the Bank ladder match next month. D, I love you but let the best woman win."

"I will," Della winked at her. "Let's talk about what's in front of us though. It seems like every few months the WWE Universe comes up with a new chant. I think a classic chant that needs to be brought back is...Same Old S-"

"PG programming!" Marina interrupted but the audience picked up on it and began chanting. "That goes for you too, crowd."

"What? I was only going to say stuff," Della innocently responded. "Becky is telling Charlotte to get to the back of the line but in order for the division to prosper, we need to get rid of the same old sh.. _stuff_ and purge both of you. See, I'm not like those other girls in the back. I'm not going to come out here kissing your asses with a 'congrats on making history' because frankly, I don't give a damn about your main event. I'm not with that, ' _girl power, all for one and one for all, their success is our success'_ crap. Becky, it makes me physically ill to see you stand there with not one, but two belts on your shoulders because I view your success over the last few months as my failure because I'm better than you in every single category and at Money in the Bank, my comeback tour will begin."

"I'll give you props for admitting to your bitter jealousy. Your friend on the other hand should take note and do the same, _if you know what I mean_ ," Becky said, taking a unscripted dig at Marina and Seth. "Why wait until Money in the Bank? You want to purge us? Come down here and do it."

Della pointed to the compression wrap around her thigh. "Don't hype this crowd up for something that you know isn't going down."

"For weeks, I hobbled down to the ring on a crutch because that's how much I wanted it. I guess you don't. That means that you're _allegedly_ better than me in every category except determination," Becky shot back.

"Yeah, you were determined alright, determined to look like a fool especially when you'd forget which leg to sell," Della countered. "No, I'm not risking it because I want to be 100% when I climb that ladder."

Marina stepped forward. "Hey, _Ginger Snaps_ , I will take more than your title, _if you know what I mean_. Don't work your way into a shoot because I can and I will go there _. Anyway,_ I'm dressed for battle and Charlotte is wearing her purple peacock gear so let's do this."

Becky left the ring and on her way up the ramp, she passed them on their way down. She stopped to size them up. Della exchanged a smug, cocky look but it was acting. The glares and daggers that were exchanged between Becky and Marina felt real.

The match began slow because them never having wrestled, they needed to learn each other. It picked up once Marina hit a huracanrana off the top rope for a near fall. Marina tried to capitalize but Charlotte stopped her momentum with a big boot to the face. Charlotte put Marina in a Figure 8 and bridged it which was usually the sign of death for the opponent but Della reached into the ring and snatched Charlotte's hair, making Charlotte loosen the hold. When Charlotte turned her attention to Della, Marina rolled her up. 1...2...3.

"You were in rare form during that promo and stare down earlier," Della commented.

Marina rolled her eyes. "I never had an issue with her period. I know her shtick is to go below the belt but don't confront me about a man that I do not want. If I texted him right now he'd respond and prove the point I told her out there. Once a cheater, always a cheater...wow, your timing could not have been worse."

"What?" Della's head turned and Roman was standing there.

"Great match," he complimented Marina.

"You don't care about my match. You're just trying to creep over here to look at her," Marina hissed in reply. "Go away!"

"Some things never change, do they, Marina?" he shook his head.

"I agree but I have a feeling we're talking about two different things. My attitude and your sneakiness!"

"That's enough, you two. I'll thank you on her behalf, Joe. But seriously, you do need to go because I don't want a repeat of the other week," Della looked around, making sure the coast was clear before shooing Roman away.

Marina watched him as he left. "And that right there is enough to keep poor Jeffrey up at night…"


End file.
